Tooth, Nail and Knife
by artcmisia
Summary: [EDITED] 'There's no such place as Paradise', my brother often says. But what if he's wrong, what if Paradise exists, and if so... How could we reach it? [rated for violence and Tsume being Tsume]
1. prologue

**an** : so it's been a long time since i've written for this anime and as you've most likely already guessed, yes i am anime trash. deal. anywho~ it's been a long time so try to go easy on me pls? i'll try to post updates on my **tumblr** if you're that into the story. small spoiler, canon pairings exist in this fic except the whole Kiba/Cheza ship because.. well you'll just have to read why. now i'll shut up and let you enjoy! :)

 **i don't own Wolf's Rain; Nikki belongs to me.**  
 **key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 _[prologue] **TOOTH**_

* * *

 _'_ There's no such place as Paradise _', my brother often says._

 _Of course growing up the way we did, I can see why he denies that any sense of a heaven exists for our kind._

 _But what if he's wrong and maybe our parents are waiting for us to join them there? …What if Paradise does exist after all and even more… how would we reach it?_

 *** I * I ***

More than anything she wanted to drop it.

"Get back here, thieving bitch!" If she wasn't preoccupied with trying to bust out of the place in one piece, she would've taken the brief chance to taunt her pursuers.

 _I'll return these beauties when you stop chasing me long enough for me to stick my foot up your posh ass_ , she thought with a brief and rueful puff.

The thief dove into one alley and then another and another, silently cursing those fools straight to hell as she kept running, at last twisting into a wide alley and skidding to a halt. Unfortunately, the alley was a dead-end with a high rising wall of cemented stone between her and her destination.

"Shit."

"Oh-ho, you done running now, girl?" She slightly jumped at the voice of one of her pursuers as she didn't turn or felt the need to because she heard all three of them find her cornered like the streetrat she was.

The woman's shoulders squared and her hands crumpled into fists that hung at her sides as her nails slowly grew and dug crescents into her bound palms. _Seven hells, he's so going to chew my ass when I get back home_…

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" The trio jeered at their leader's little joke. "Give back what you stole and my boss just might be merciful."

 _Fat chance._

"Suppose I should be flattered, ne, given you three gorillas are actually talking coherently."

She felt a dangerous smirk curl her upper lip as she exhaled shortly, watching the breath resemble a small puff of fog in the cold night's air, before she turned when hearing the main ape advance towards her. She sidestepped his lunge but not before grabbing a fistful of his jacket sleeve and raising her left fist to collide with his fat nose when he twisted slightly to glare at her, letting go of his sleeve to ram her boot up his groin, sending the man reeling with colorful expletives.

"B-bitch; get her!" He snarled between his meaty paws that gingerly held his broken and bleeding nose, blearily seeing the other two surge forward at their thief.

The woman's smirk remained as she ducked out of the way of the second man's swing for her head to swing her left leg out and knock his from under him. Her right hand's palm smacked the third right in his fat face and she shoved him back with ease so he crashed back-first into a nearby trash can.

The thief turned on the first ape to sprint for him and she sprang into the air using his head as a leg up, landing nimbly on the ledge of the concrete wall. She smiled serenely over her shoulder at the groaning trio, "Pleasure doing business with ya, boys!" She sang before hopping to the other side of the wall and booking it home.

 **::::x x::::**

His ears perked when the door to the room opened from the other side, but given he knew her well enough by now, he didn't feel the need to look up as she slipped into the darkened room, "You sure took your time."

"Shut up, I'm still here. You fret too much…" She scoffed lightly, fishing the prize out of the confines of her coat pocket and tossing them at him so he caught them with a practiced hand. "I almost pity those assholes for being so naïve." She added with a scratch of her scalp.

He looked down at the pilfered strings of pearls and gold chains, smirking wryly. She made for a damn-good thief after all. "Good. Just don't play it too close to the chest next time." He nodded to her as both gazes met.

The woman smiled serenely when her blue eyes met his amber, "I can't make a solid promise on that, but I'll try anyway, Tsume-onii."

He rolled his eyes at her formality as she sat down at his right with a sigh, and he reflexively poked her forehead. "I swear you're impossible, Nik, even for a brat sister." Tsume smirked knowingly when her lower lip jutted out in a pout at his brotherly gesture.

"Tch, shut up." Nikki grumbled as she turned her head away.

* * *

 **an** : again, i'll try to post updates on **tumblr** , if anyone wants to know. hope you guys liked this and kind words make me feel all fuzzy inside so pls review! :)


	2. NAIL I

**key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 **NAIL I**

* * *

This whole scene _reeked_ of bad idea.

"That is _not_ a dog… Pull it out." His low voice made them jump slightly as he nodded his chin a bit when one of the men closer to the tree shot him a reluctant glance; he wasn't blind to the slight tension in her shoulders as she didn't jump at having him appear from out of nowhere.

Her clear blue gaze was fixed on the hollowed out tree that one of his men cautiously stuck a hand in.

Like a flash of lightning, a streak of white lunged at the intruder and ripped his throat out with the same measure of speed, knocking the man down onto the cracked stone that surrounded the lone tree.

She swallowed a growl of surprise at watching the loner round on the second man who attempted to shoot him down with arrows from his crossbow and bring him down as he had done the first man, flexing her fingers that had reflexively curled into fists at her sides.  
 _  
Typical of onii-san to state the obvious_.

"How interesting." He hummed lowly at her side, and she stole a glance at him to see he was locked in a stiff staring contest with the loner.

The loner's snout crinkled to reveal his fangs stained with human blood, watching the apparent alpha slowly back away before he took off at a sprint away from the scene; with a snarl he flew after him at top speed with his tail in the air.

She rubbed her temples with a hand, "Seven hells…" She turned to sprint after the two, rounding one corner and then another before dropping her guise and picking up the pace.

Both males were locked in a fur-flying squabble when she reached the top of the lone tower they had run to, one wolf glancing off the other on one instance before the other headbutted and kicked the other in the head and already injured leg.  
 _  
Idiots_ … She rushed into the squabble as the stranger lunged at him, headbutting him in the neck and knocking him away. ' _Enough!_ ' She snapped as she stood before the older wolf.

"What the hell?" He snapped as he scowled at her back.

The loner shook his head with a growl as he straightened slightly from being sideswiped, looking on the female whose tail was in the air. ' _Even if you are a female, I won't hold back. Move_.' He ordered.

' _You're cute; do you charm all girls with that attitude?_ ' She flashed her fangs. ' _Regardless, it's only smart to stop this now before the humans get here_.' She added and knew she didn't need to look at the wolf she protected to know he understood.

The other wolf recognized her point and slightly nodded, his ears twitching as they heard a set of footsteps heading up the stairs that led to the roof, and he turned away to leave them while favoring his left leg.

She looked at her brother as their stares met when he looked away from glancing at the stairs, turning to nuzzle his cheek with hers. ' _Don't let them catch you_.' She advised with a slight smile, turning away to follow the stranger down the steps of the other side of the tower.

 **::::x x::::**

He wrinkled his nose slightly at the taste of age in the fountain water, looking down at his reflection in the surface before he caught the scent of that she-wolf… He exhaled slightly. ' _You're not very sneaky_.' He said.

She landed nimbly from having been observing him atop a low roof nearby. "You're already banged up, didn't want to worsen your condition." She remarked as she folded her arms at her chest.

The wolf looked over his shoulder at the she-wolf with fur as black as night and met her silver eyes, noting her human guise of a pretty face with blue eyes and short black hair. ' _I can walk fine, thank you_.' He sniffed, looking away to continue on his way, favoring his leg as he went down one alley.

She followed and kept at his left with ease due to his slowed pace, lowering her arms only to rub her neck with a hand. "It's not wise to be in fur." She commented.

' _Like you're an expert on that… I didn't ask you to tag along, either_.' He shot her a scowl.

"I at least know better than to waltz around a city on four legs, tough guy." She returned the scowl between sliding her hands into the pockets of her blue coat, adding when hearing him snort at her jab, "And anyway, I'm keeping my head down. My brother and his friends aren't exactly popular with the humans who run this place."

He scoffed this time, ' _Now I see the resemblance. I don't need a pupsitter, so if you're that preoccupied with your brother then go back; I'm not stopping you_.'

"Then since you're so insisting, I'm **staying**." She scoffed back, watching him stop to scowl up at her, to which she folded her arms complacently and arched a brow in challenge.

The white wolf grumbled slightly and shook his head. ' _You're perpetually stubborn_ …'

"You flatter me…" She chuckled, traipsing at his side when he continued again, folding her arms behind her head. "So, Prince Charming, you got a name?" She asked.

He rolled his eyes at her sarcasm, ' _Kiba_.'

"Nikki." She nodded slightly.

The odd couple crossed into a small marketplace and while she was virtually invisible in human skin, she couldn't help but catch the fleeting looks extended to the wolf at her side. She fought a bristle that raced down her spine and kept a stoic mask in place.  
 _  
Just keep walking, just keep walking_ …

The sound of a gun clicking shattered her mantra as they both stiffened in place before turning slightly to look back at the old hunter wielding a shotgun and a black dog at his side, the mutt growling as its clear blue eyes were locked on the duo.

Two wolves in plain sight.

She felt her lip curl in an attempt to bare her fangs before the dog gave a bark as it lunged at them and leapt for the obvious wolf who snarled at it with his teeth bared. "Go…" She started to order him to run.

' _Get moving_ …' He snapped at her heels, making her jump slightly as she dodged his snap, gold meeting blue. ' _Now!_ ' He ordered before turning to meet the dog's charge.

She hesitated for a second before turning away to run for the nearest alley and diving in, turning down one corner and then another before the sound of that gun going off erupted in the air and resounded in her sharp ears. She almost stopped in her retreat at hearing the gunshot, looking back at the way she had come; she clicked her tongue and used the side wall for leverage as she kicked off from the wall to hop onto the nearby low roof, landing in a crouch.

The familiar caterwauling of police sirens chased the tension from the morning air, and she straightened to look off at where she could see the red glare of the vehicles arriving to the marketplace below. She shook her head and gave a weary sigh.

"Idiot wolf."

 **::::x x::::**

Standing at the base of the stairs that led to the doors of the police station made her feel the slightest bit intimidated.  
 _  
Slightest_.

Squaring her shoulders she muttered, "You'd _better_ not be dead, you jerk." She started up the stairs.

"And just where are _you_ going?" She froze slightly before looking back at the one who'd spoken only to exhale in relief at meeting the amber eyes of her fellow wolf. "Hige." She smiled at her friend.

The wiry-haired boy returned the smile before placing his hands in the pocket of his yellow hoodie, "Don't tell me ya finally flipped your lid, Nik." He joked.

She rolled her eyes and nodded slightly for him to come with, "Not today am I; I'm here to get someone out." She explained as he came to her side.

He raised both brows in surprise, rubbing his neck, "Cripes, don't tell me it's your brother… I'd have figured that jerk could worm his way out of getting leashed by these guys." He wondered.

"It's not him, but this guy… Well, you'll have to see for yourself. Now come on." She sighed and jogged up the remaining steps; she would admit breaking a prisoner out of the station now felt that much more possible mostly because she wasn't alone anymore.

He groaned slightly in her wake, "Geez… Wait up!" He followed at her heels.

Sneaking in was easy— much to her surprise – as the people working there assumed they were part of the custodian crews, so the fact that the two friends walked to the nearest stairwell exit to follow the scent of wolf that lingered in the otherwise-sterile air made this seem that much easier.

"Come on, Nik, have a little mercy…" Hige panted as she had jogged ahead of him down the second flight of stairs.

Nikki deadpanned as she stopped at the well of the final set of stairs and looked back at him, "It's not like you're that fat, so stop exaggerating… One more flight won't kill ya." She reasoned as she waited for him to reach the well.

Hige shot her a look at seeing her serene smile when he reached the stairwell, wiping his brow of sweat. "You owe me for this, princess." He breathed out.

"Deal." She lightly patted his cheek before turning about to descend the next set of stairs and hearing him follow.

With a relieved Hige in tow, Nikki was first to the room where they were keeping him; both wolves slipped in through one door to find a large cage holding the captive wolf in the center of the spacious room.

"So this is him?" Hige asked curiously as he watched her approach the cage and crouch before the sleeping wolf.

Nikki nodded, momentarily taking note that he looked a wholly different person when he was sleeping… A small smile crept onto her lips. "Yeah." She replied quietly.

Cracking open an eye at hearing and scenting the she-wolf, the white wolf looked up at his visitor. ' _You're still here?_ ' He wondered blandly.

Her smile fell at his greeting and her brow gave a twitch. "You're still alive I see." She sniffed back; _sarcasm is not your color_.

"Nik didn't say you'd screwed up like this." Hige gave a low whistle of surprise as he stepped up to the odd couple, earning a collectively mild look in return; he added as he scritched his head. "I've seen one of our own get caught before, but not _this_ bad!"

Kiba's furry face morphed into a deadpan expression. ' _I can get out of here whenever I want to, y'know_ ,' he remarked dryly.

"Then why're you still in there?" Hige refrained from rolling his garnet eyes.

' _I just needed a place to rest for a bit, that's all_ …'

"I'm Hige, nice to meet ya."

' _Why're you in here?_ '

"No reason, I just smelled something interesting and decided to follow my nose. 'Sides, the princess here wasn't about to walk into the lion's den on her own."

'… _That's not your true form, why do you hide yourself?_ '

"So I don't end up in your shoes. People are scared of us, so y'know, if we look like them, they pretty much leave us alone." He shrugged nonchalantly.

His upper lip curled in a mild sense of frustration, ' _Living a lie, just to die miserably in this city?_ '

"Gotta do what you can to survive, right? Keep lookin' like that and you'll be back in no time flat; it draws way too much attention." Hige said innocently.

' _Have you given up your_ _ **pride**_ _as a_ _ **wolf**_ _?_ ' Kiba let a growl escape his mouth as he slightly straightened to glare at the tan wolf.

Nikki started to open her mouth when Hige cut across her with a slight scoff, "You're a strange one all right; but that pride doesn't count for much if you're dead, ne?" He smiled wryly at the wolf's sharpened gaze as he absorbed the truth of his words.

Sensing he had calmed, the she-wolf relaxed before jumping slightly when alarms suddenly began going off throughout the building. She stood to her feet to scowl back at the doors and then grumble, "I think that's our cue, boys…" She trailed off when a growl came from the caged wolf and she looked at him with a measure of amazement as he began to bite down on the steel bars to slowly bend them through the force of his jaws.

Bending the bars at a wide enough angle for him to escape, the white wolf slipped out and straightened once he was free; her earlier jab at hiding his true form momentarily rang in his ears and his body stretched and grew until a boy her age with wild brown hair and green eyes stood before her. His sharp eyes didn't miss the slightly-agape expression on her pretty face and a smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. "What is it?" He asked.

"E-eh, I… Nothing." Her ears reddened and she glared at the hint of amusement in his green stare, turning away with a purposeful twist to stride away to the doors. "Move your asses, come on." She ordered gruffly over her shoulder.

Hige suppressed a shudder at hearing how much like a certain gray wolf she sounded, trailing after her with Kiba at his heels. He was briefly surprised the other could hobble so fast, though he'd seen him nearly break steel bars with his teeth, so he supposed one really did learn something new every day.

Nikki kept her gaze lowered when cops passed by them down the corridors, having lifted the folded collar of her coat to hide the lower half of her face, letting Hige lead the way to the nearest exit and she glanced to her right when noting Kiba walked at her side. Her blue gaze lingered on his handsome face for a lingering second before she curtly cut her gaze away when he sought to return the glance, pretending her ears didn't burn again at nearly being caught.

That jerk, who the hell was he to try and woo _her_ with a pretty face? She was an island, damn it, she was strong and _confident_ and _sharp_ …

Idiot wolf.

 **::::x x::::**

She looked up at the moon.

It wasn't like she could touch it, scientifically-speaking, and it wasn't like she could really feel its strength fill her up like if she wasn't under a dome, either.

Humans tried to protect their skies with their inventions when in retrospect it was the devils inside their walls they needed to worry about.

She looked away as she lifted a hand to subconsciously rub her chest where she felt that strange tug earlier on when that word was brought up between the two now-sleeping males.  
 _  
Paradise_.

She looked off to the rest of the decrepit city's buildings, the familiar stinks of this crummy world she had known for the last count of years assailing her nose, yet her mind was caught on her brother and what he would always say if the ' _P_ ' word was brought up.

He would think it stupid of her to chase after a make-believe place where their parents probably were, if she knew him well and at this point she did, telling her to grow up and to not believe in such a thing.

Though Tsume couldn't explain the tug she felt at mention of Paradise, and he sure as hell wouldn't dream of following a hotshot wolf off to someplace that didn't exist…

"It's not real… the moonlight I mean." Speak of the devil; she glanced at him as he had probably sensed she was still awake and pretended his piercing stare wasn't digging holes into the side of her head.

She huffed quietly and hugged her knees tighter to her chest. "Thanks for the update. I knew that ever since I started living in this place… Humans don't exactly like natural things anymore." She remarked as she heard him shuffle to his feet to sit with her on the edge of the old water tower they had sought refuge on hours ago. She added when he sat down, "You shouldn't move around so much with that leg."

He rolled his eyes at her comment, "I've done worse. And anyway, if you knew that then why'd you stick around?" He asked as he looked up at the domed sky.

Nikki slightly wrinkled her nose, "It's not like I had a say in it; I was still a pup when we came here."

Kiba glanced at her again as another soft breeze stole past their tower and played with locks of her black hair, and he huffed slightly. "You're pretty stubborn to have done what you did today." Especially for a complete stranger… Though he would admit some part of him was touched by her tenacity towards helping out her fellow wolf. He hadn't seen that in... years.

Heat began to creep up her neck at his observations and she cut her gaze away as she had earlier. "Che, don't act like I did it just to shake my tail at you or anything disgusting like that… I just don't believe in beating the crap out of a guy who looks like he's already _been_ through hell and back." She looked determinedly at a low rooftop of a seedy hotel several rooftops away.

A smirk crept onto his lips at seeing he had obviously left her flustered, and he looked away to hide the smirk. "That's pretty noble for a thief… Though you don't strike me as the teasing type." He mused.

Wait, did he just _compliment_ her…?

She also blinked at his words before she looked at him. "So those namesake teeth are just for show, aren't they?" A cheeky smirk crossed her pretty face as she watched him near-visibly bristle at being caught.

Heat started to color his cheeks and he averted his gaze with a scoff. "Don't flatter yourself… You're still a hot-headed _thief_." He sniffed.

"And _you're_ just a sweet puppy under that stoic mask." She hummed as she looked away to the rest of the city.

He scowled sorely. "Shut up." His ears tingled when she giggled.

* * *

 **an** : and a belated apology for the prologue being so short.. orz. anyway, hope you liked! :)


	3. NAIL II

**key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 **NAIL II**

* * *

"…Spotted a wolf just the other day!"

"Oh what is this world _coming to_ … _?_ "

She barely stifled a snort of derision at overhearing the two gossiping hens nearby, glancing at the small dog with them at seeing it cower behind the more upscale woman's legs. She felt her brow twitch at noting a certain wolf was the one scaring the piss out of the little ankle-biter and she lightly whacked the back of his head, lowering her hands back into her coat pockets when he scowled at her. "Scare that little pipsqueak any further and he'll be pissing himself." She chided under her breath as they walked after the tan wolf.

He felt his own brow twitch and he elbowed her, "Like you weren't listening to them _too_." He returned in the same tone.

Well at least he wasn't walking around in fur again; she rolled her eyes and slightly tilted her chin up. "Beats scaring the hell out of that ankle-biter… I can control myself, compared to _you_ , hotshot." She said coolly, catching the tan wolf leave the busy street after sniffing at cooking hotdogs on the nearest kiosk to turn down the next corner and she strode ahead of the white wolf.

Kiba scowled at her back and his gaze briefly drifted to the defining curve of her hips before he mentally whacked himself for staring; not only was she perpetually stubborn but she was cocky to boot… He strode after her leave and entered the small alley as Hige tossed him a hotdog that he caught with an expert hand.

"Told ya that noone notices us." Hige said lightly as he tossed the third dog to their female companion.

Nikki caught it and took a bite out of the dog, blinking once when Kiba gave a cautious sniff of the gifted food, smirking wryly behind her hand she wiped her mouth with. "It's not gonna bite your nose off." She sang cheekily before taking another bite of her dog.

Kiba shot another scowl at her before he took a bite and made a face, "This tastes awful…"

Hige and Nikki shared a look before the former huffed, "S' the best you can get around here, though if I see a deer loping by, I'll make sure to catch it for ya." He remarked.

Nikki wiped her hands after popping the last piece into her mouth and chewing, her ears twitching as they heard the familiar caterwauling of sirens several blocks away. Her thoughts drifted to a certain gray wolf and her brow crinkled.

She knew those sirens had gone off the other night because he stole from the nobles, she just knew it was because of him and his crew… For all she knew, he had caught her scent and possibly made a diversion of himself so she could escape.

Though she _might_ be overthinking it.

"…Take them once they're caught?" Kiba's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

Hige shrugged, "The same place they took you I guess."

Kiba nodded and looked at the towering headquarters again, "Sounds perfect; I'll get caught and sneak back in."

Nikki shook her head slightly as she couldn't believe he was thinking what she believed he was thinking. "Hang on a second, you can't be serious! That dog fried your brain." She declared.

"Yeah, what the hell happened to Paradise?" Hige agreed quickly as he was just as surprised as her.

"I'm going back in whether you two agree or not." Kiba stated seriously, continuing, "The scent's coming from inside that building, and the only way to find it is to get back in. You know what's in there, don't you, what they're hiding behind those walls? The Beacon that'll lead us to Paradise."

Hige was first to huff slightly and say, "Well forget it; you'll never get that close to Cheza."

" _'Cheza'?_ " Kiba echoed with a raised brow.

"That's the girl they supposedly made from lunar flowers, from what I've heard." Nikki rubbed her temples with a hand.

Hige added in, "Look, it's locked up tight in that place; even _we_ couldn't get as far as the lab."

Kiba deadpanned, "So why'd you escape with me?"

"For a little excitement I suppose." Hige mused.

"Hige, don't you believe in Paradise too?" Kiba asked.

Hige shook his head slightly, "I'm not goin' back."

Kiba shrugged at his noncompliance, "See you later then." He then left their company to head off down the alley.

Nikki pinched the bridge of her nose with a hand as Hige called after him, and she exhaled. "He's an idiot…" She jogged after his leave. "Oi, hang on!" She called.

Kiba paused slightly when hearing her boot heels clacking lightly on the concrete as she jogged to his side, looking at her. "You knew about that scent too, yet you decided to help me." He pointed out when she came closer.

Nikki huffed slightly, "A blind dog could smell that scent, but I had other priorities at the time so I couldn't waltz off and end up where you did. Besides, do you have any idea how risky it is to go back into that place?"

"It's not like I asked you to help me, did I?" Kiba remarked before continuing.

Nikki huffed and turned her head away with a scowl, exhaling. "Just because I'm a thief doesn't mean I'm as selfish as you think I am." She said as she followed him.

"You sure as hell sound like you're saying _otherwise_ …" He started.

"I'm not doing this to annoy you, Kiba!" She snapped, hands fisting at her sides as she watched him stop to scowl slightly at her, continuing with a slightly curbed tone, "You would be dead now if I didn't stick my nose in, so the _least_ you could do is shut up and hear me out. Just because you feel like you were magically led to this place doesn't mean you need to keep going it alone after you meet others who are just like you… I'm coming with you. There's no doubt in my mind that you obviously need someone who's got more street-smarts, and that's me."

The longer he listened to her he recognized her need to help, for whatever reason he imagined only she knew or lack thereof, and the fact that she was perpetually stubborn didn't leave much room for him to deny her request.

 _Maybe it wouldn't be too bad_ …

"... It's kind of hard to argue with someone who's that cocky. Come on." Kiba exhaled slightly, looking at her slightly surprised gaze.

Nikki felt a smile creep onto her features and she nodded, letting him lead again and she traipsed along at his right. "Y'know, you're cute when you admit I'm right." She said cheekily.

Kiba noted her smile before he smirked wryly, "Don't flatter yourself, princess."

 **::::x x::::**

The man sneered, "Come on baby, why so cold…?"  
 ** _  
Pow_**.

"Sorry baby, but you are _definitely_ not my type." She cracked her knuckles as the sleaze reeled away with his tail between his legs and his bleeding nose in his hands; she glowered at the possible repeats that stiffened under her stare before they kept to their places. She snorted softly and then shuffled to retake her seat at her companion's right.

He caught the slight crimson staining her knuckles and he couldn't fight the sense of reverence towards watching her defend herself like the stonewall she was. "Point proven." He mused quietly.

She pulled her coat collar up to protect her neck from the slight draft in the cell, huffing at his words. "Jackasses normally aren't worth my time, he just annoyed me." She said in the same tone.

Kiba opened an eye at her tomboyish response. "You're an island, aren't you?" He wondered.

Nikki's ear twitched and she looked at him, "Got a _problem_ with it?" She asked in a slightly-lower tone.

"Nope; I think it's interesting to see you're not one to tuck in her tail and knuckle under." A week ago he would never think he would meet a she-wolf that was as perpetually stubborn as her, let alone accept her help in a ' _risky_ ' mission, yet here he was.

Maybe, just maybe, she would make this journey a little lighter.

"If you're done gawking, you can return to earth now." She said as she waved a hand infront of his face when seeing he had slipped into his thoughts.

He blinked at her hand waving in his face and he reflexively grabbed her wrist to lower her hand, "Very funny…" He made a face.

She laughed a little before noticing he had yet to release her wrist and she cleared her throat as she gingerly retrieved her arm from his grasp. "I thought it was." She remarked coolly.

Kiba noted the heat stubbornly creeping into her cheekbones and he huffed. "There's not that many… girls, like you, to be honest. From what I imagine, anyway." He mused more to himself.

Nikki looked away as her cheeks warmed and she sniffed, "Well maybe I'm just a rare breed."

"Must be, otherwise there'd be less of us to go around if all girls were like you… _Ow!_ " Kiba winced slightly when she slugged him, rubbing his arm gingerly. "It's still healing." He grumbled as he shot her a look.

"Then don't _mouth off_ like an _idiot_ , hotshot." Nikki returned with a serene smile when his green eyes dug into her skull, complacently folding her arms at her chest.

"Well it's good to see you two haven't killed each other yet." Both wolves looked as the cell was opened to let in another batch of prisoners with a certain tan wolf amongst them.

"Hige?" Nikki blinked.

Kiba chimed in, "What in the world are _you_ doing here?"

Hige plonked down at Nikki's right and smiled convincingly, "Come on, what're friends for, right?"

The odd couple shared a look before answering in chorus, " **That sounds fishy coming from you**."

The pudgy wolf sulked. "Some friends!"

 **::::x x::::**

 _Searing flames swirled around the wolf pup that ran._

 _This_ _was_ _once_ _her_ _home_ , _her_ _pack_ _lived_ _here_ , _and_ _now_ … _Now_ _they_ _were_ _dead_.

 _A_ _shrill_ _beeping_ _noise_ _filled_ _her_ _ears_ _and_ _the_ _pup_ _gave_ _a_ _yelp_ _of_ _pain_ _at_ _the_ _noise_ …

She sat up with a slight gasp, her shoulders shaking as her widened blue eyes looked at her dark surroundings to slowly recall that she was no longer a pup and that she wasn't in any danger.

But despite this she felt a shift in the air as something rank that made her hackles rise seemed to permeate the air…

Something was up.

"Something's about to happen…" His voice made her slightly jump before she looked over at him to find he too was awake.

He glanced at him, "You wanna bail then?"

"Let's." She nodded as she shuffled out from the blanket she and the white wolf had shared as he did the same, looking at the tan wolf as he tapped the white wolf's shoulder when the lattermost sought to bend the bars like he had done the other day and withdrew the key from his hair. She smiled and lightly slapped him on the back as the white wolf took the key to open the door so they could escape.

The trio booked it down one corridor and another and another until they heard approaching footsteps when coming into a small corridor with a ventilation shaft on the left wall.

Kiba opened the vent with ease and looked at his companions. "Ladies first." He nodded to her.

"Like hell, for all I know you two morons will have the glorious opportunity of staring at my…" Nikki started to protest before giving an involuntary squeak when he hoisted her up to crawl into the vent. " _Jerk!_ " She hissed before the two joined her with Hige closing the vent behind their entrance, leading the way along the ventilation tunnels.

Blessedly they didn't linger long in the vent system and it took a sharp kick from Nikki to pop the vent open so they could exit the building. She looked about the otherwise-dark alley they had ended up in as Hige and Kiba shortly followed her descent, looking at Kiba and following him as he led the way down the alley at top speed with Hige at her side.

The trio skidded to a halt when coming across a thin bridge overhead that was illuminated by fluorescents, three sets of eyes looking at the lone figure that had chosen that moment to cross the bridge.

The figure was coated from head to toe in black with only a white masque shielding their face and a strange feather-adorned hat on their head with their eyes hidden in shadow. A girl was being carried in their arms, pale as moonlight with pink hair from what she could see.  
 _  
This stench… This was a noble!_

" _Wolves_." The trio slightly winced at being recognized even while disguised as humans, looking up at the figure in black who spoke in a low voice. "You have my gratitude, for it was you who awoke her… The Flower Maiden is mine." He stated.

" _'The Maiden'?_ " Kiba murmured aloud.

Hige gaped, " _That's_ Cheza…?"

A loud whirring sounded then as the nobleman lifted the girl up and forced her to awaken by grabbing onto the back of her head of hair.

" _Take your hands off her!_ " Nikki snarled between her fangs before wincing when the girl gave an inhuman scream that threatened to burst her sensitive ears, the scream resonating through her very body and making her chest ache as it had the other night when Paradise was mentioned, slightly squinting when the overhead lights of an airship brightened the alley.

"We'll meet in Paradise… _If_ we meet again that is." The man drawled as the light only shined brighter around him and he began to depart.

Kiba rushed for the bridge and would've made the jump if a black ball of fur didn't latch onto his back from behind and knock them both down. He rolled onto his back and growled before meeting the silver glare of the she-wolf. "Nikki let me go…!" He snapped.

"Dumbass, what good could you do? He's already gone!" Nikki shouted back as she made him look up above to see the lights had died down around them, looking down at him as her shoulders still shook a little from the whirl her mind had experienced regarding her bad memories and the nobleman's untimely win against them.

Kiba could swear he saw mistiness in her striking silver eyes that slowly shifted back to that sky blue color, and he quieted slightly. "You okay?" He asked quietly, perking her ears.

Nikki nodded and hastily got off him, straightening out her coat and huffing as she turned her gaze away. "Yeah, perfectly peachy. We've got to get out of here and fast." She looked at Hige who had recovered from covering his ears from that girl's scream.

Hige nodded as the white wolf straightened behind her, looking away as he caught whiff of sewage and wrinkled his nose. "C'mon, let's move." He led the way to the nearest manhole at a jog.

* * *

 **an** : ok so i lied, i said ' _updated weekly_ ', when in retrospect i had another chapter waiting for publication in my file folder, so ta-da! hope you guys like, and a small s/o to **_Kirei Ao Tori_** for the first follow on this fic. thanks svm love :)) anyway, more drama next week so stay tuned!


	4. NAIL III

**key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 _ **NAIL III**_

* * *

"Come on, Nik, Kiba even made me save one for ya…" Hige tried to get her to eat the last rat they had caught earlier when fleeing into the sewers.

Nikki wrinkled her nose, "Thanks but no thanks. And anyway, you know you just want to eat it." She rolled her eyes at the pudgy wolf's slight pout before he gobbled up the last rat. She rubbed her knuckles gingerly as her thoughts drifted again to their encounter. "The flower scent is gone now, you know… Though that noble creeped the hell out of me." She mused.

Kiba huffed, "he knew we were wolves the second he looked at us."

"So why're we still moping around; let's go look for Paradise." Hige suggested if only to dispel the melancholic mood both wolves seemed to share.

"There has to be another way for us to get to Paradise, there must be." Nikki said thoughtfully.

"You were there, weren't you? That _was_ our only way. _Cheza_ is the Beacon that'll lead us to Paradise." Kiba countered as he looked at her.

Hige wondered if he was this deep a thinker _all_ the time. "That freak said a lot of crazy stuff, didn't he? If you're thinking of going after him, you're out of your mind. He's a noble if I've ever seen one." He commented.

Kiba raised a brow in mild confusion, " _'A noble'?_ "

"They're the lowest of the low among humans, yet they're also the most powerful. That's as far as _I_ know anyway… Hige's got a point, though." Nikki explained as she scritched the back of her head.

"Maybe hanging around me as much as you have has made ya _soft_ , princess…" Hige jested only to duck the rat tail she tossed at him with a growl in her throat, waving it off. "Anyway, just let it go, will you?" He suggested to the white wolf before stifling a yawn and lying on his side to await sleep.

Nikki rubbed her temples as it seemed only seconds before the tan wolf was snoring, and she exhaled. "The world _must_ be coming to an end if I actually agreed with _Hige_ …" She thought aloud.

"You felt it too, then." Kiba mused quietly, earning a look from her and he elaborated, "you felt her pain and sadness. I know you did."

Nikki bristled slightly at being under scrutiny from him and she quieted. "I didn't feel the earth move when I tackled you, so don't get your hopes up…"

" _Nikki_." He ground out in exasperation.

"… And if I say I felt it, _then_ what?" She returned in an uncharacteristically small voice, making his ears twitch.

He refrained from pointing out that he was right after all, and he looked at the smelly water that streamed past their shelter to the rest of the sewer. "Then you understand more than what you've seen and heard about Paradise, and Cheza." He answered in an equally quiet tone.

She caught his pensive tone and ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe that's it, or maybe you threw me a bit too hard into that damn vent…" She mumbled.

"You're too bullheaded for something like that to dent that skull of yours." Kiba remarked wryly, moving his arm when she sought to slug him again. "Cute." He smiled innocently at her disgruntled look.

Her lower lip jutted out and she huffed as she curtly looked away, blowing strands of hair from her cheek. A pocket of silence fell between them before she commented in a soft voice, "It still doesn't explain the… nightmare I had, before we met her."

His ears twitched again and he looked at her to find she was looking elsewhere, particularly on the scuffs on her combat boots; his eyes tightened for a second. "What was it about?" He asked.

She relaxed against the wall and aimlessly kicked her feet. "My –rather, mine and Tsume's—pack was cut down years ago when we were still little. Some noble sent his men to ' _cleanse'_ the forest of any wolves that night… Tsume and I were the only survivors." She explained in a still-soft voice.

Kiba's brow crinkled into a frown as he listened to her and momentarily took his own past into consideration, finding with surprise that maybe he had more in common with Tsume than he thought.

And with her.

Nikki huffed slightly at the memory, tucking one ankle behind the other, "Guess I knew then that this world was already shot to hell and would only continue to get shittier." She mused.

"Is that why you think about Paradise…?" Kiba wondered aloud, earning a glance from her.

She considered it before nodding. "Mum always told me that it was a beautiful place, flowers everywhere and that it would be peaceful… There was nothing like death and fear and sadness in Paradise. Maybe I've always felt I would go look for it one day when I was old enough. Guess it really is just a pup's dream after all…" She chuckled slightly.

"Only if you think it is." He calmly interrupted and made her look at him with slight surprise in her eyes. Their gazes met and he saw once again that childlike need to find the truth in her eyes, and he would admit he liked to see her brighten up at the very thought of Paradise. Maybe that's how he could come to befriend her. "If you think Paradise is more than what you've been led to think, than what your brother believes, then come with me." He would take her to Paradise… He didn't know how long it would take or how dangerous it would get, but he did know that they would find Paradise together.

"Kiba…" She looked away for a moment as heat crept into her cheeks at staring at him, giving a soft sigh in a measure of resignation to her emotions and what fate had dragged her into, and she looked up at him with determined eyes. "Together?" She asked.

He acknowledged the determined look that stole into her pretty face and brightened her eyes; his own eyes softened a bit and he nodded. "Together."

A particularly loud snore came from the sleeping tan wolf near them.

Both friends looked at each other for a moment before they shared a quiet chuckle.

 **::::x x::::**

This place positively reeked and she hoped to the moon that the coast was clear above.

"Can you see anything…?" He asked from beneath their lookout.

She covered her mouth with the folded collar of her coat and seriously contemplated shoving both of them out of the damn manhole, cops or not…

"Nope, not much… Hey look, it's one of ours…!" He said chirpily as if there weren't two slowly suffocating wolves under him.  
 _  
That's it_.

Kiba gave an involuntary yelp when being sharply headbutted in the rear which made him shove Hige out of the manhole and out into the open. "Oi!" He grumbled before looking at the one who had headbutted him as she scrambled out to take a refreshing intake of air, and he scowled at her. "What the hell was that for? That hurt!" He scolded.

" _You_ try being the bottom man inside a damn sewer, _then_ talk to me!" Nikki retorted as she made a flippant gesture to the manhole they had been shoved out of, straightening to her feet as both males gathered themselves.

Kiba pinched the bridge of his nose to refrain from dragging their little spat into an argument, shaking his head and looking away to see a set of wide gold eyes looked at them in bewilderment.

Nikki followed his line of sight and blinked before registering the brown wolf only feet away from them; he looked to be a pup from what she could tell, scrawny at best, and his big gold eyes held something like shock and awe and bewilderment as they ogled their odd trio. Her gaze softened slightly at meeting another wolf, much less a pup.

' _Y-you guys are… no way!_ ' The pup managed to get out.

Kiba caught the softened look on her face disappear as she looked past the new wolf and he followed her gaze to see a girl had walked in on them, if her shocked expression didn't speak enough volumes.

' _Leara!_ ' The pup said when hearing the girl come into the alley, turning to face her. His ears lowered in shame and he added, ' _I'm sorry for what happened, about your bird_ …'

"She doesn't understand you, pup…" Nikki started to say when the girl screamed for her father, making the four wolves wince.

Kiba groaned a little at their luck and turned back to the sewage pipes, grabbing her hand in his and being the first to leave the scene, hearing her slight yelp and Hige as he shortly followed them with the pup at their heels.

"Where's the pup?" Nikki asked when she and Kiba had scrambled into one of the bigger pipes and dropped into a higher part of the sewers, looking at Hige when he joined them seconds later.

Hige started to answer when a slight yelp sounded from the pipe he'd entered through and the brown pup landed before them in a slight heap.

The pup rubbed his head gingerly with a hand as he had taken the guise of a teenager with brown hair and gold eyes that cracked open before he looked up at the trio with him in slight relief. "S-sorry about that…" He apologized meekly.

Nikki slightly shook her head and offered a hand of aid to him, letting him take her hand before she helped him up. "We've had worse. That could've been handled a bit smoother though, y'know." She nodded.

The pup offered a weak chuckle before slightly perking up when the white wolf started off down the sewers, the tan wolf following and the black wolf turned to follow their leave.

She looked at him, "Don't wanna stay here all day do you?" She asked, smiling lightly when the pup gave a slight shake of the head and trotted after them until he walked at her heels. "So, you got a name?" She wondered of their newest addition.

"E-eh, oh yeah! I'm Toboe." The pup answered with a slightly sheepish rub of his neck, smiling at the older wolf.

She nodded, "Good name. I'm Nikki, the fluffy pudge is Hige, and the perpetually distant jerk is Kiba." She introduced with a serene smile back at the pup who chuckled at her tags.

" _'Fluffy pudge'!_ " Hige echoed with a hurt sniff.

" _'Perpetually distant jerk_ '…?" Kiba deadpanned, scowling slightly at her over his shoulder, "Then don't mind _her_ , she's perpetually _impossible_." He said to the pup.

"Shut it, _wonder boy!_ " Nikki snapped irritably, glaring daggers at his back when he faced forward again.

Toboe failed to cover up another laugh at the odd couple's antics, looking at their supposed leader at the helm as he asked, "So where're you guys headed?"

"Where do you think, runt? The exit!" Hige huffed lightly, ignoring the pup's pout at his new nickname.

Nikki whacked the back of his head on reflex, "He _means_ that we're leaving town."

"Then where're you going?" Toboe wondered.

"To Paradise." Kiba informed calmly from the front as if that were the easiest answer in the world.

" _'Paradise'_ …" Toboe paused then, causing Nikki and Hige to also stop and look at him, and he asked them, "Hey, do you guys know Tsume?"

" _'Tsume'?_ " Kiba echoed thoughtfully.

Nikki sighed slightly, "Regrettably."

"Why'd you ask?" Hige wondered.

"The wolf with the scar on his chest?" Kiba clarified for the pup.

"Yeah, that's him, all right!" Toboe brightened up at that, throwing the she-wolf off for a second.

She'd never met anyone who thought so highly of her brother before…

"Okay, what about him?" Kiba asked as he looked back at the youngest.

Toboe's bright expression faltered and he glanced down at his boots, "W-well I figured that if we're leaving, maybe he'd wanna come along too…" He answered.

Nikki started to answer when noting Kiba's attention was drawn to something on the cement landing under one manhole feet away as he crouched to examine that something, and she shrugged past Hige who had turned to the pup to step up to the white wolf's side. Her ears twitched as she caught whiff of her brother's blood, and while it was faint, she could tell it wasn't too long he had been down there. She looked up at the world above and beyond the manhole and growled slightly in frustration with her sibling. "Geez, _onii-san_ …" She muttered.

"He can't be far off." Kiba mused as he looked up at her.

"I know where he is." Nikki replied with a slight nod, letting him stand to his feet before she led the way further into the sewers with her brother's scent in her nose, distantly hearing Kiba at her heels as they went.

 **::::x x::::**

His arm still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as earlier… His ears twitched as he heard voices approaching the door of the run-down complex he'd hidden himself in, and he hopped to his feet in preparation to fight or run.

"… What a crapheap, why would he hide out in here of all places?" The tan wolf scoffed as the door opened so the four wolves piled in with the white wolf in the lead.

"You?" The gray wolf began in surprise.

"Tsume!" The black wolf beamed at seeing him present, embracing her brother who reflexively hugged back, before she stepped away a little to smack his chest with a hand. "You moron!" She scolded.

Tsume winced at her gesture and rubbed his chest gingerly, "I missed you too… Where in hell have you been? I caught your scent at the police station…" He asked.

"It's a long story…" Nikki replied with a slightly sheepish glance elsewhere.

"We could smell the blood from your wound all the way from town." Kiba chose that inconvenient moment to open his mouth; he ignored the sharp glance from the lone she-wolf as his gaze was set on her brother.

Tsume's nose wrinkled at seeing the white wolf again, huffing, "And what about it? Don't intend to nurse me back to health, do you? I don't need you, _especially_ since you're sniffing after my baby sister!" He said bitingly.

Nikki's cheeks colored as Kiba's face also colored behind her and she shook her head to scowl at her brother, "Tsume, that's not what happened, Kiba and I didn't do anything…" She began patiently.

"And _you_ , I can't turn my back for one damn second without catching wind of you getting in trouble. You're not a puppy anymore, Nikki, you know how things go." Tsume turned to scold her, scowling at her exasperated look.

"Look, Tsume, we're all leaving the city, and I really think you should come with us…" Toboe interrupted before an argument could ensue between the siblings.

Tsume shot a mild look at the pup before acknowledging the tan wolf near him and he looked at the white and black wolves as he asked sardonically, "So where is this merry band _going?_ "

"To Paradise." Kiba answered calmly, not missing the sharp glance extended to the she-wolf at his side.

"You're kidding, you actually believe in that crap?" Tsume snorted slightly in disbelief, adding flippantly, "I wouldn't put it past you to brainwash those two, but _my sister?_ That's pretty low even for _you_." He glared at the white wolf again.

"For God's sake…" Nikki began.

Toboe put in again, "If we stay here, we'll have to spend the rest of our lives in hiding or worse! We just can't live with humans anymore and survive." His face darkened as he thought of that girl.

Hige piped up from standing near the windows, "I hate to interrupt but we've got company."

Nikki glanced out past him at the patch of grassy earth littered with police and her nose wrinkled, "Idiotic humans." She muttered.

"Let me ask you guys something: why did you come to this city in the first place? It was because of the flower scent wasn't it…? Well the scent is gone now, so there's no reason to stay." Kiba asked of the room at large, noting only the she-wolf glanced at him when he looked to the four wolves present.

Tsume gave an indifferent scoff, "The flower scent has nothing to do with it. I'm here because I _belong_ , and so is _she_." He shot a look at his sister when she scowled.

"I can see _that_ , this city is a dump. But your sister is different… She wants to go to Paradise, and she's coming with me." Kiba retorted flatly.

"I've still got a score to settle with you…" Tsume growled out as he glowered at the younger male, taking a step closer to him despite the exasperated comment from the tan wolf and the forehead-slap the black wolf exhibited in the background. "The last time we met you mentioned something about how your pride wouldn't let you pass for a human. You look damn-well _human_ to me… Where'd you pride go?" He asked coolly.

"Nowhere, because nothing's changed." Kiba answered flatly.

Tsume bristled slightly at the thought of his sister purposefully putting herself in whatever dangers the wild had for her, and he asked him, "Do you have the slightest idea of what'll happen if you leave the city? You'll _die_." He never showed it openly, but he  did care about his baby sister, and he would be damned if some hotshot brainwashed her into getting killed out there.

"Possibly… Death is a natural part of life, but if your life has no purpose, then you're already dead." Kiba stated.

Whatever Tsume sought to retort next was silenced when bright lights from the police below shone in on the room and made the five wolves recognize their time was up.

The five then found themselves racing to the nearest and temporarily-safest exit before a sea of bullets rained on them from their pursuers when they reached the long pipework that led from the ruined part of the city to the outskirts.

A bullet whizzed past her ear and she slightly winced at nearly being shot, looking over her shoulder at the lower pipes to see her brother drop back to help the pup from having slipped off the pipe, and she smiled slightly before picking up the pace as she ran at the white wolf's heels.

With relief on most if not all the five's part, they at last reached the outskirts and the high wall that steeply dropped onto a lower shelf of concrete.

Nikki looked down as Hige and Kiba had dropped first and she looked back at the city, ignoring the caterwauling of the sirens that were so close as the chilled winds played with her hair, and she huffed.

It was starting to feel like a cage anyway… And she hated cages.

The she-wolf hopped off the ledge to land nimbly in a crouch near the two wolves, straightening to smile wryly at them. She looked up when a yelp came from the pup as said wolf dropped to land unceremoniously on his rear near her; she rolled her eyes at her brother's forcefulness and looked up at him as he lingered on the ledge. "Tsume, hurry up!" She called.

"Are you scared?" Kiba asked the gray wolf as the winds calmed slightly around them.

Tsume smirked ruefully at the younger male's jab, looking down at his sister who looked up at him with hopeful blue eyes, and he huffed. "You wish." He hopped over the ledge.

* * *

 **an** : what's up guys, no new views and stuff? ouch.. anyway, not much else to put so later.


	5. Tsuna

**key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 _ **Tsuna**_

* * *

Snow billowed in the winds that howled softly outside of the cave.

Kiba briefly looked away from the blizzard that slowly began to wane beyond their shelter as his gaze fell on the lone female whose back rested against the stone wall inches away with her coat collar high to shield her neck from the cold winds that teasingly danced into the cave with her eyes closed as if she were dozing.

She hadn't said a word about his open declaration that last night in the city and, while his pride wouldn't have minded a little acknowledgement of his bravery in standing up to her brother, instead she seemed to gravitate towards his side like a fly to the light.

Though as slightly hurt as his pride was that she didn't acknowledge his declaration, he was left to realize she was as much an island as she was perpetually stubborn; she was hardly one to blindly obey orders… She wouldn't knuckle under if she could help it.

"H-hang on, howcome Kiba isn't on the menu!" Toboe's outburst drew both wolves from their respective reveries and back to the general conversation going on between the three males.

Tsume sent a scathing look over at said male, "'Cuz the guy's full of crap. And don't bother askin' about my sister, she's off limits to all three of you idiots." He answered coolly.

Another breeze stole into the cave as green and amber stiffly held each other's gaze.

Nikki stood to stretch her legs then, looking between the two males before rubbing her temples, "There's too much testosterone in this damn pack it's irritating…" She sighed.

Hige's ever-keen nose shot into the air then, making the four look at him with mild surprise and curiosity, before he scrambled to his feet from having been seated at the back of the cave to rush out into the snow in search of whatever it was caught his attention.

Nikki glanced up at Kiba and Tsume before she ran after the tan wolf's lead with Toboe following, leaving the mentioned wolves to follow their leave to find the blizzard had subsided for now.

The four skidded to a halt when finding Hige stooped over a dead doe. It had been dead for a considerably short amount of time, preferably a few days given the state of the carcass, and was still considered edible.

Or as edible as " _edible_ " could get with five wolves that, even if two of the five would never admit it, were hungry.

"You're actually going to _eat_ that?" Tsume asked at large as he was slightly repulsed and affronted at the lack of something more decent for them to eat.

Of course it _was_ the wild…

"Aren't _you?_ " Hige retorted calmly before he dug into the provided meal, prompting Kiba, Toboe and Nikki to join in.

Toboe commented after losing a leg bone to Hige through tug-of-war –to which said male gloated for a few precious seconds before Nikki whacked his head in scolding—, "It's a little tougher than hamburger but it's not half bad… Come on, Tsume, you should eat up too! There's no telling when we'll get another meal where we're going."

Tsume wrinkled his nose before scoffing. " _'Go where'_ , to Paradise? You're still on that?" He demanded.

"It's either Paradise or you go crawling back to the slew of cops in Freeze City that were itching to turn you into Swiss cheese." Nikki remarked around a mouthful of venison, shooting him a mild look even though the white wolf near her was scowling slightly at her brother. "I personally wanna keep going." She added as she swallowed the meat.

"Just how far are you willing to let this jerk string you lot along…?" Tsume wondered as he sent another glare at the white wolf in question before huffing. "I can't deal with you idiots."

"Aww don't be like that, Tsume!" Toboe pleaded if only to keep the peace between them, adding as he looked at the white wolf, "Kiba hasn't even told us what Paradise looks like yet!"

Hige piped up, "It's a really beautiful place! There's lots of flowers and meat everywhere… And lots of babes too… E-eh, not like _you're_ not pretty too, princess!" He smiled cheesily at the lone female's deadpan expression.

Nikki pinched his ear and ignored the yelp of pain from her friend, "Quit fillin' the pup's head with lies, you lecherous ham…" She scolded lowly.

"Um, Nikki, can't you tell us about Paradise too?" Toboe asked meekly, having looked at the sulking Hige and the reproachful Nikki as Tsume rolled his eyes in the background and Kiba valiantly covered a snort of derision at the tan wolf's blatant lie.

"I've never seen it before, but our mom used to say it was really beautiful and peaceful. And of course there're flowers, but no ' _hot babes_ ' like this ham said…" Nikki answered honestly.

"It sounds really amazing then!" Toboe said brightly.

"It's still a puppy's bedtime story." Tsume pointed out, receiving a mild scowl from his sister and he huffed, "If you wanna follow this moron to whatever end then be my guest." He turned to stalk off with his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his pants.

"Tsume…" Toboe frowned at his leave and looked at Nikki for some measure of hope that she would ask the older wolf to stay, but the she-wolf only picked at a bit of dirt under her left thumb. "Where're you going?" He asked the older wolf.

"To look for hell I guess!" Tsume replied over his shoulder.

"Suit yourself." Kiba's calm voice made the older wolf pause as the remaining three looked at him, and his green eyes settled on the amber scowl that met his stare. "Keep in mind that that set of rules you carry doesn't mean anything out here." He added coolly.

Tsume's lip curled, "It pisses me off when smug little asses like you talk like you're right about everything when in retrospect you're wrong." He snapped, being met with a hardened green stare before he continued on his way.

"He's the only one actin' like a kid around here, if y'ask me." Hige muttered.

Toboe slightly shook his head, "Don't say that, I like Tsume…" He ignored the mildly incredulous looks from the white and black wolves, and he looked at the lattermost with a determined spark in his gold eyes. "I'll bring him back, Nikki." He assured before he took off after the gray wolf.

Nikki watched him follow her brother's leave and she felt a small smile pull at her lips as she nodded. "Well I'll be damned." She mused aloud.

 **::::x x::::**

A content yawn escaped her as she stretched her arms to the skies, fingers spread as if she could catch handfuls of the enumerable stars above them, before she closed her hands and looked up at the pale white orb bathing them in her light.

It felt like years since she had actually basked in the moonlight, and her body that had ached for her light now felt light as a feather; for a moment she believed she could catch the stars.

The white wolf had not ceased to look her way every other few minutes at seeing her look so peaceful. Why now, he wondered, why did she suddenly look so beautiful now of all times? He had only known her for two weeks at best, for the moon's sake, but still…

"Y'know, I think we should ditch him. Tsume, I mean. It's not like he wanted to come along anyway." Hige's voiced thoughts pulled the white wolf from his observations.

Nikki opened an eye at his words and exhaled slightly, "Good point…" She contributed.

"I mean I know he's your brother and all, Nik, and I'm sure you don't mind him being here… But if you think about it, it's really circumstances that threw us together in the first place." Hige paused slightly as he seemed to remember said wolf's sister was present.

"I don't mind it, except for his complaining… But he knows I can take care of myself." After all they had been through, how could he doubt her now? Nikki sat up slightly and hugged her knees to keep from falling back, once again taking interest in the scuffs on her boot toes.

Kiba commented from his place at her right, "then the same goes for you too, Hige."

"Yeah, but Tsume's been giving me bad vibes since the beginning." Hige remarked as he shot him a look.

"He's just different, that's all. He's always had someone to blame, and at the same time he's had someone to watch his back… He's pretty lucky if you ask me. Give him a break and he'll come around." Kiba calmly countered as he closed his eyes to hopefully resume basking in the moonlight.

Hige sat up and looked at his fellow male with mild exasperation. "All right, so what the hell's up with you, anyway? You talk like you've got an answer for just about everything… What exactly happened to you before this?" He asked.

Kiba's eyes cracked open, "Nothing much… nothing much at all." If only they knew…

Nikki frowned slightly and quietly asked, "You okay?"

He stirred at her quiet question, and he imagined she was looking at him with curiosity. He nodded a little. "I'm fine."

Right, like she was going to believe that coming from him of all men… Nikki wrinkled her nose a little before she pointedly jabbed her toe into his thigh, looking at him when he scowled her direction. "You know you don't have to carry the world on your shoulders anymore… You've got friends now." She reminded patiently, seeming to perk his ears.

Kiba's scowl faltered as he recognized even if she got his attention through jabs and punches, she still meant well, and felt concern for him even if she denied it until she was blue in the face… He quieted slightly and nodded his head. "Yeah, I know." He replied quietly.

"Since when did you turn soft?" Hige failed to stifle a snort of amusement; he never thought he would see the day Nikki willingly show that side of her.

Kiba felt his brow twitch as a small scuffle ensued between the two, and he looked over at them to see Hige pinned with a triumphant Nikki sitting on his back and his ear caught between her teeth. "I could've warned you not to say that to her." He deadpanned.

Nikki's tail wagged lightly when hearing a slightly pained yelp from her friend, releasing his ear to sit back with a cheeky smirk in place as she shifted back. "Thanks for not warning him then." She caught the bemused light that shone in his green eyes.

"I shoulda known Tsume never told you to play nice… I think you made me deaf in this ear." Hige rubbed his ear gingerly and pouted at his friend who only grinned toothily.

Kiba shook his head and smiled wryly at the smug female.

 **::::x x::::**

A loud whirring sounded when the robot trained its guns at the bristling and glowering wolf.

With a snarl a streak of black launched itself at the machine from one of the ledges above; the wolf's teeth sank into the metal and would've ripped into the cold metal if the robot didn't shake the wolf off.

Nikki landed nimbly between her brother and the robot with her teeth bared and her tail in the air, ignoring the angered commands behind her to run while she still could.

A deafening howl stole into the night right then as a streak of white flew at the robot and diverted its attention from the siblings to him instead.

' _Get him out of here!_ ' Kiba ordered as he briefly looked at the she-wolf's silver gaze before bounding away in the opposite direction at top speed, hearing the robot whirr as it gave chase.

"Tsume, up here!" Hige called from a few ledges above them as he sat with Toboe.

Tsume steadily straightened up and perked up slightly when his sister hoisted his arm over her shoulders, looking at her to see she was looking up at the ledge where the other two were. He scowled slightly before they hopped up as she favored his bum leg. "Why'd you come back?" He demanded quietly when they landed on one ledge lower than Hige and Toboe's ledge.

Nikki looked away from having listened to the machine firing round after round at Kiba's heels further off down the ravine, meeting his hardened amber gaze. "We're still pack regardless of whether we agree on one thing or another… Even if you _are_ an asshat." She chuckled a little.

Tsume quieted slightly at the simplicity of her response and he briefly looked off as they heard a shelf of icy rock crash further along the ravine, before he exhaled. "You're almost as annoying as that boytoy of yours." He mused wryly.

Heat crept up her neck and she felt her brow twitch before she scoffed indifferently. "I have no idea what you're talking about, you big jerk." She pretended her lower lip didn't jut out as was her way.

His amber gaze softened slightly at the defeated tone she tried her damnedest to hide, lifting a hand to ruffle her black hair. "I don't agree with it, mostly because he's worse than you when it comes to believing in that crap, but so long as he doesn't lay a finger on you… I'll live with it." He lamented quietly.

She blinked once and wondered if maybe she wasn't hearing things or if he hadn't gotten hit on the head in his tumble, before a smile crept onto her lips and she nodded. "Like that would happen anyway… You taught me well enough in knife-work." She tilted her head a smidge.

"It's almost scary hearing how much of a hardass you are… Almost." Tsume rolled his eyes but smirked anyway, blinking when she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him; he gave a slight sigh of defeat and hugged back. "My leg is killing me, by the way." He grumbled.

"That's not my fault is it?" Nikki huffed as she drew away, smirking back and giggling softly when his lips pursed.

The four wolves took a measure of relief when dawn came as their supposed leader came back to them once they were safely away from the ravine, the lattermost slightly favoring his leg as he came.

"You okay?" Hige asked him.

Kiba nodded slightly, "Yeah, it's just a scratch…"

" _The hell it is!_ " A combat boot was chucked at his head and made him stagger slightly when the sole conked the top of his head.

"Ow…" A vein twitched on his brow as he chucked the boot back at its owner and hopped to his feet. " _What the hell that hurt, Nikki!_ " He shouted indignantly.

"It _should_ hurt after that stunt you pulled, you _idiotic_ _wolf!_ " Nikki shouted back as she slipped her boot on, glaring at him, "I'm surprised _anything_ could leave a dent on that thick skull of yours!"

"Like _you're_ one to talk, _you're worse than me!_ " Kiba shouted, glaring back, "I swear to the moon…"

" ** _OI_** _!_ " Tsume's shout silenced both 'responsible' adults as he straightened slightly to scowl over at them. "You're _both_ acting like an old married couple, it's too damn early for that, _and my leg is killing me!_ Shut it or I'll do it _for_ you!" He ordered sharply.

Hige and Toboe, who had deadpanned at the couple's antics moments before, simultaneously winced at the older wolf's harsh tone.

Kiba and Nikki looked at each other for one solid second before their faces warmed with matching shades of pink and they curtly broke stares to huff and look elsewhere.

Tsume's shoulders slumped slightly in relief, " _Now_ then, get your ass over here and let's get moving, hotshot." He jerked a thumb behind him to where their road led.

Kiba scowled slightly at his unofficial petname he'd earned from the siblings before he strode to the helm to lead the way.

Nikki looked at Toboe as he helped Tsume walk before she smiled softly and took her brother's free side as they followed Kiba with Hige taking the tail of their ragtag pack.

* * *

 **an** : fyi, **tsuna** means "sand" in Japanese. also Kiba-Nikki love-hate fluffiness is just love, period.


	6. GOSPEL I

*  
 **key** : ' _wolf speech'_ / "human speech"

* * *

 _ **GOSPEL I**_

* * *

The cold winds played with her hair and nipped at her exposed cheeks and nose.

She looked up at the bleak-skied afternoon as she briefly paused in walking after her companions, watching as the clouds threatening another snowfall moved sluggishly above. Her mind strayed to the little break they had had a few days after the incident in the wasteland and a smile tugged at her lips.

' _So is Paradise really like_ Onee-chan _said?_ ' The pup had asked their technical leader with hope in his gold eyes, only to be met with a placid sort of smile on the older wolf's face.

"The scent is faint, but it's flowers all right." Kiba commented with a brief whiff of the cold air, yanking her from her thoughts.

Toboe beamed, "then that means Paradise must be right ahead!" He broke into a run down the snowy hill, giving a slight yelp when his swift pace turned into a roll down the steep descent until he landed in a heap in the snowy bank below.

Hige rolled his eyes, "Typical pup."

Nikki smiled after the pup's clumsy descent and reflexively slugged the white wolf's arm. "Come on, you overgrown puppies." She teased before she hopped down the hill to descend and land expertly on her feet.

"Pot calling the kettle black…" Tsume pinched the bridge of his nose before he followed her with Kiba and Hige shortly at his heels.

The five walked to the lone island in the middle of the lake across the long stretch of railroad that had seen better days yet still seemed to be in service, the wind continuing to nip at their faces and play with their hair.

Nikki looked up from walking along the left-hand metal beam as she then caught the same scent of flowers she, Hige and Kiba had smelled back in the wasteland, sniffing the air before she felt a tug in her chest. "Maybe we're on to something after all…" She mumbled thoughtfully.

"Training to be an acrobat now?" Kiba asked as he looked over at her when seeing her sniff the air, watching her blink before she looked at him as green met blue.

Her lower lip jutted out and she looked away with a snort. "Is the mighty alpha jealous because he's not as graceful and nimble as a she-wolf like me?" She hummed coolly.

He scoffed and let the amused smirk show on his handsome face, "Wouldn't want you to fall, would we, princess?" He noted her ear twitched at the petname.

"You wouldn't dare." She retorted with a warning in her voice.

He glanced back at her brother walking behind them at the tail and he smirked privately before he stuck an arm out to push on her hips, making her yelp before she grabbed his arm in her grip, and he blinked as well as stiffened when she latched onto him before looking at the mischievous glint in her gaze.

With a bark she tackled him, and the two scuffled with brief yips and playful growls, before the white wolf found himself on the snow-covered railway with his belly in the air and a triumphant she-wolf towering over him.

Kiba growled up at her even as the surmounting emotions that had since welled inside him during the last month or so sought to make something of their position, looking up at her silver eyes as she growled back with her tail in the air.

Nikki dropped the serious façade to nip his nose, her chops split into a grin as her tail wagged and she hopped off his belly to land on two feet again. Her cheeks were flushed with the heat of playing and the cold as she laughed at his confused state. "I knew those teeth were only for show." She sang.

Kiba scrambled to his feet and shook off the snow, cheeks red as he had an unamused look on his face. "Start. running." He bit out.

Nikki grinned toothily before she took off down the railway at a sprint with an irritated Kiba hot on her heels.

"Bet you're glad it was only that, ne, Tsume?" Hige laughed slightly at the display of puppyhood between their friends, rubbing his neck as he looked at the slightly confused gray wolf.

Tsume regained his composure and scoffed, thumbs hooking in his pockets. "Don't be so disgusting, Porky." He remarked flatly.

"Um Tsume, what did Kiba chase _Onee-chan_ for?" Toboe asked innocently as he looked at the two wolves' wake.

"Nikki's a bit of an enigma sometimes." Tsume answered and refrained from slapping his forehead at the pup's naïveté as well as his sister's immaturity, following the odd couple's leave at a calmer pace.

Hige and Toboe shared a look before they jogged after the older wolf.

 **::::x x::::**

Landing nimbly on the other side of the high wall, Kiba straightened to look at his companions that shortly followed his lead with the youngest landing clumsily as was his way. His gaze lingered on the lone female as she helped the pup to his feet with a reflexive gesture before his green eyes followed the gray wolf who walked ahead of them down the alley with his thumbs in his pockets again, and he shortly followed his leave with the tan, brown and black wolves at the tail.  
 _  
Sure seems dodgy enough if you ask me_ , the she-wolf thought as she briefly took note of the few and obvious signs the town didn't like strangers, if the shades being drawn or fleeting glances here or there were enough of an indication.

"Guess they're not used to strangers?" The pup thought aloud as he looked at the noticeable signs of their welcoming wagon.

The tan wolf frowned, "Obviously…"

"What the hell kind of place is this? Must be _some_ Paradise…" The oldest sardonically muttered at the helm; his sister and the white wolf shot him mild looks when he wasn't looking.

It seemed none of them noticed the set of brown eyes observing their entrance into the dismal city from the rooftops.

The five continued through the darkening streets for another half hour or so, the silent observer keeping them in sight all the while, before they came across the scent of something burning. No sooner did they shortly find a lit burn barrel in one alley's alcove.

A pack of five or so men were huddled around the barrel for warmth, and from a glance she could tell they had seen better days; their pack would've continued through the streets if the pudgy wolf didn't stop at seeing there was a woman amongst the overall-male company.

The other pack stopped in their quiet chatter amongst each other at hearing the foreign voice and simultaneously looked on the five as the alcove quieted. Even their watcher had stopped and sat on the high rooftop of the alcove to watch the scene below.

Nikki had half a right mind to clock some sense into the tan wolf for voicing his thoughts, slightly perking up from her place between the white wolf and her brother when one man straightened amongst the other party, and she looked on a face older than her brother with gold eyes and a vertical scar marring his left cheek.

She was no fool… She knew this was _their_ territory, and _this_ was undoubtedly their alpha.

"Where're you kids from?" Scar-face asked gruffly.

"The city to the north." Their leader answered plainly.

Scar-face huffed slightly, "What're you doing here, then?"

"Don't expect us to be doing business in this craptastic place, do you?" Her brother scoffed.

"Well then where're you going?" Scar-face's brow twitched slightly at the gray wolf's comment.

The pudgy wolf blinked once, " _'Where're we going'?_ " He echoed.

"To Paradise!" The pup answered proudly.

The word seemed to be like a stigma, as the second party stiffened slightly at the pup's answer, before their leader broke the moment of tension when he started laughing, and soon his pack joined in. Their watcher, on the other hand, found the other pack's bravado interesting… Despite her pack's amusement.

Toboe frowned in confusion, "Um, why're they laughing…?"

"It's obviously because they don't know _crap_ about Paradise." Nikki scoffed coolly.

The other party stiffened at the she-wolf's remark as their collective stares fell on her as if she were a riddled dog; their watcher slightly tensed in place, wondering what would happen next.

Her blue eyes gave off a steely glint despite the white wolf at her side who slightly raised his arm to protect her.

"We know all about it." Scar-face growled.

Kiba glared slightly at him; Tsume scoffed even though he automatically disliked how they looked at his sister; Nikki's upper lip gave a twitch in threat of curling back.

"It's nothin' but a stupid legend!" A second voice said from amidst the other party, and they looked at a pudgy wolf with a fat snout.

" _'Legend'?_ " Toboe repeated with curiosity even as his confused frown deepened.

"That's right, kid, there's no such place as Paradise! What we saw wasn't Paradise… It was more like hell, to be honest." Fat-nose scoffed.

Tsume scoffed again, "Well _there's_ a shock."

"Maybe your _fat nose_ led you to hell instead… Paradise is _real_ , and snarky words from a pack of fleabags _isn't_ going to stop us from finding it." Nikki promised as she tilted her chin up in pride, glaring at the pudgy wolf.  
 _  
Damn_ , their watcher mused with a wry and rather awestruck look towards the she-wolf.

Fat-nose smirked ruefully at the cocky female, "You brats would do well to keep your whore in place." He said.

Nikki flashed her teeth as a growl came from her throat, "Don't got the balls to do it yourself then, fleabag?" She purred.

"Why you little…" Fat-nose growled out.

Kiba fisted a hand in her scruff as she had taken a few steps forward and yanked her back, holding fast to her coat collar. "You're outnumbered." He hissed in her ear, ignoring the soft snarl she threatened to voice.

" _Enough_." Scar-face snapped at his packmate, shooting him a look that made the latter reluctantly stand down. He glared at the irate she-wolf who was restrained by the white wolf's firm grip, nodding to said alpha. "You'll find out soon enough. Why don't you lot take your bitch and get lost… You **do** have somewhere to go, don't you?" He snapped.

Kiba glared back even as he reluctantly let go of her coat only to let Tsume usher their riled she-wolf away and down the alley as he sent a final glare at the other party, following Hige and Toboe when the younger tugged on his arm to urge they leave. His ears burned when the other pack's laughter echoed in their wake.

He wasn't blind to the other she-wolf having watched the scene play out from the rooftop of the alcove wall, but the matter of _their_ she-wolf needed to be dealt with first.

" _I could've handled it!_ " Nikki nearly exploded as she shoved away from her brother's arm around her shoulders once they had put about five blocks between they and the other wolves, glaring up at her brother's stony face before looking annoyedly on the white wolf who had traipsed to walk behind them.

Tsume folded his arms at his chest, "Like hell; there were too many of them for just _you_ to take on, and it would've been really immature if you'd attacked just because they called you names." He reasoned. He had been the one to teach her to defend herself long ago, and today was one of those instances where he wished she _wasn't_ such a hothead.

Today was coincidentally another day where he didn't know what the hell he was going to do with her.

"Tsume's right. You were obviously outnumbered, and I for one didn't want the outcome of your little display to weigh on my conscience." Kiba agreed while placing his hands in the pockets of his jacket, momentarily surprising himself at actually agreeing with Tsume.

Nikki glared at them both and gave a growl. "I don't even know why… You know what, I'm not listening to _either_ of you two jackasses. _You_ because you're being such a damn hypocrite, and _you_ for telling me what the hell to do when you _don't_ _own_ _me!_ So _until_ you can actually let me be my own person, _don't bother talking to me_ for the rest of the night!" She shouted as she flippantly gestured between Tsume and Kiba before twisting on her heel to stride off down the long and narrow alley with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her coat.

Toboe hesitated for a moment at seeing the somewhat dejected look that graced the two older wolves' faces, before he jogged after the she-wolf. "Wait up, Nikki!" He said.

Hige kept his mouth shut for fear of getting the stink eye from either of his fellow males as he followed the brown and black wolves' leave, "Oi, hang on, you two!"

Kiba lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Is she _always_ so hotheaded?"

"I've come to the conclusion that she got that from our dad." Tsume mused blandly, following the three at a calmer pace and hearing Kiba shortly follow.

 **::::x x::::**

The man passed her just as she walked into the alley. She wrinkled her nose in disgust when he passed by.

Slave-driver… She had never liked when her father dealt with him.

"…Seeing those kids today reminded me of when you were younger, with that fire in their eyes." The older she-wolf mused thoughtfully.

Her significant other looked away from her to his pup who had an unamused look on her pretty face. He had to look twice, as he was wont to do now and then whenever she popped in on him, given he thought it was her mother he saw. But it was his daughter, his only pup out of five that was still alive.

"He still reeks of petroleum." She huffed with a glance over her shoulder at where the mentioned man went. She caught the nostalgic light in his gold eyes and her unamused look fell a degree, adding, "they went near the cemetery, about a half-hour ago."

"And you would've been spotted if you'd tailed them into the graveyard." He nodded, clearing his throat, "Good work, but you won't need to tail them from here on." He added and caught the surprised look on her face.

The gray wolf closed her mouth and scowled, "But Da, I can stay quiet and you know that! Yuri had entrusted his job to me if something ever happened to him…"

"Your father is only being protective, Erika, don't take it personally." The older she-wolf intervened patiently.

Said she-wolf stiffened slightly before snapping, "Go shake your tail somewhere else, _Cole_ …"

" _Eri_." Her father snapped, making her flinch and slowly scowl up at him. "Go now." He ordered.

Brown eyes narrowed into a hurt glare, she looked away and stormed past him, sharply clipping the shoulder of her father's second-in-command as she went.

"Can't have your way all the time, brat!" the fat-nosed wolf called with a huff in her wake, smirking ruefully when he was shown a rude hand gesture in response, looking at his alpha, "She's about as spiteful as that little bitch from earlier." He chuckled.

 **::::x x::::**

"This place is givin' me the creeps…" Toboe muttered as he hung back with Hige.

Nikki glanced around at the old cemetery they had wandered into via Tsume's lead and wrinkled her nose as she could smell the antiquity of the place just by looking around. She followed the gray wolf's lead with her lips pursed; she was still not happy with him, or with the hotshot at her heels, and had since pretended she didn't know either of them and had hung with Hige and Toboe.

So what if she was being childish? It wasn't _her_ fault they were in this craptastic place.

"Guys, I keep hearing something weird!" Toboe commented again as he shot a nervous look around them as if the dead in their graves would leap out at him at any second.

Tsume tried his damnedest to not slap his forehead, "Damn it, would you stop being afraid of everything?" He demanded shortly.

Seconds later a grave yards infront of them burst up with dirt and made the two younger males yelp and jump simultaneously in surprise as the she-wolf gave a yelp and reflexively ducked behind her brother who had slightly jumped when the younger males did.

A grizzled old wolf with gray fur looked on the five spooked wolves from his place in the grave.

"H-hey gramps, what d'ya think you're doing? You scared the crap out of us!" Hige barked.

The old wolf blinked once, "Oh? I'm sorry, I was just digging a hole for myself." He explained.

" _'A hole for yourself'?_ " Toboe echoed.

Kiba raised both brows, "You mean you were digging your own grave?"

"Well when you get to my age, you begin to recognize when your time is coming." Gramps answered simply.

Tsume snorted slightly, "Then maybe you should dig a little faster… Ow." He winced slightly when his sister slugged his arm in scolding, rubbing his arm as he scowled at her.

"I thought I was a goner too…" Toboe mumbled.

Nikki slightly shook her head, "Sorry Gramps, but do you know if there are any lunar flowers in this city?" She asked politely and ignored the somewhat-incredulous glances she earned from three of her four companions.

The old man's face lit up at that and he replied with a grand gesture of his arms, "The flower bed that goes on forever!"

Kiba and Nikki perked up at his words.

"Long, long ago, flowers bloomed all over this island. But then one day they were dug up, and now there isn't a single petal left." Gramps explained.

"That doesn't explain the scent…" Nikki mumbled as she looked off at the rest of the cemetery.

"Can you tell us what color the flowers were?" Toboe asked.

Gramps smiled, "Oh… Well, they were the color of the moon!"

"And what about Paradise, have you ever been _there?_ " Tsume asked if only to humor the old man.

"Well every wolf goes off in search of it at one point in their lives; I went to try and find it myself, once." Gramps replied calmly.

Toboe asked, "What'd you do?"

Once getting out of the grave he'd dug, Gramps led the five away from the clustered grave markers to a more secluded part of the cemetery where two aged trees marked the unused storm drain that was boarded up.

"That's the entrance over there," Gramps said as he pointed at the storm drain.

Hige covered his nose with his sleeve, "Ugh it reeks like death warmed over!"

"And here I thought it would smell nice…" Toboe lamented.

Nikki covered her nose with her hand and watched Kiba step closer to the storm drain with a curious and rather cautious look.

"I wouldn't. There've been many young wolves that have set out through there, but sadly none of them ever reached Paradise... Those who're left return to make what life they can here like the rest of us." Gramps advised with a sad tone.

Nikki bristled when feeling eyes on her, as she and Kiba looked back to see Scar-face standing yards away from them.

"Alright Gramps, that's enough for today; don't forget that there's work to be done tomorrow." Scar-face advised the old wolf.

Gramps nodded, "I see… I've dug it deep enough." He stepped away from the young wolves to heed his alpha's advice.

"Hang on, when you and your pack tried to get to Paradise, did you use this path?" Kiba demanded.

"I thought I told you Paradise doesn't exist." Scar-face replied flatly.

"Zoli…" Gramps began as he looked at his leader.

The newly-christened Zoli glared at the younger wolves, "If you brats disturb the peace of my pack in any way, I'll show no mercy. Now get out of town, is that clear?" He ordered, turning to lead Gramps away and back to the lonely city.

Nikki spat in his wake, huffing. "Wrinkled old bastard… Who the hell does he think he is to order _us_ around?" Noone owned her; her life was her own, and noone told her where to go or who to follow… It was as simple as that.

"Can't calm down for _one second_ , can you?" Kiba grumbled as he looked at her with a knowing light in his eyes.

Nikki considered opening her mouth to retort but instead she turned her head away, gave a ' _humph_ ' and strode away with her tail in the air, leading the way in the direction of a mausoleum she had spotted earlier.

Tsume exhaled patiently as he shortly followed her lead, Toboe at his heels and Hige at his side, with Kiba at the tail.

"So do you still believe in it?" Tsume asked their leader when they had found the mausoleum she had spotted and took a moment's respite in the run-down shelter.

" _'Believe in'_ what?" Kiba glanced back at him.

Tsume clarified, "Paradise… They said they'd been there, but apparently there's no such place."

"What they found obviously wasn't Paradise." Kiba replied blandly.

"I swear I don't know where you get your confidence from… Must've gotten it from the same place my sister did." Tsume scoffed in disbelief before he sobered and added, "Anyway, you know there's no such place, and there's no guarantee that we'd ever make it there… We'd be stupid to keep going." He scowled at him.

Nikki exhaled, "Those dogs clearly didn't find Paradise and even if it's a rumor of a scent, I smelled flowers here, too. Whether you like it or not, I want to find out what it is they're hiding, because it's not the rationed food they keep to themselves." She scowled at her brother as blue met amber.

"Nikki's right, and anyway, you guys are only making yourselves hungrier when you're angry." Toboe agreed.

Tsume huffed and relaxed on the pile of rubble he sat by, "Maybe we should start digging holes and living in the gutter like that old man." He contemplated.

Kiba let his eyes linger on the she-wolf who only hugged her knees and looked down, and he looked off at the darkened cemetery beyond them as he stated, "It's not confidence… I'm not sure what it is, but I know it's there, screaming inside me. I have to know… That's the only reason I've kept going for so long. I can't imagine living without believing in it."

Nikki glanced up at him as she listened to his words, blinking once in surprise when Hige sat up from his place lounging with Toboe to look off at one corner that was caved in. She followed his gaze to recognize the woman from earlier as she came into the light; she frowned slightly in suspicion.

"You kids must be starving." The woman said with a serene smile on her pretty face.

Hige scrambled to grovel up to her like a hungry puppy, oblivious to his friend who slapped her forehead in exasperation. "Yes, yes we are; you're so generous!" He said chirpily.

Kiba spared the woman a brief look before he stepped out into the cold. Nikki shook her head at seeing him leave and she gave a half-sigh as she straightened to follow him out.

 **::::x x::::**

Curiosity had always been her curse, since she was a cub… Still, he didn't have to remind her about it nearly every day of her life.

The she-wolf purposefully kicked the pebble along, huffing at his words that nagged her. _Seriously, doesn't he know that I know that? He thinks just because of what happened years ago that I'm gonna jump to my death or something drastic like that_ … She wrinkled her nose at the idea, looking up when a howl sounded in the cold night.

The pack had split up since Cole had gone and done her " _missionary work_ " a couple of hours ago now, their alpha and his presumed mate being first to leave the ruined mausoleum they had taken shelter in, and the gray wolf and what she assumed was his little brother had returned to the city to wind up at the train station. The tan wolf, a pudgy flirt from what she could guess, had taken Cole's bait with ease.

Still, what that she-wolf had said in the alcove had made her mind race ever since.

If Paradise was real, truly honest-to-the-moon _real_ , then why did her brothers and the other wolves she grew up with have to die in the tunnels?

Trainers coming to a halt, she recognized the numbing melancholy the memory of that day brought out in her –dragged it out of her, really, as she wasn't one to dwell on it too long— and shook her head before looking up again as the howl sounded closer to recognize her wandering had brought her to the train station.

It _was_ a few hours till sunrise, and blessedly she didn't have to work when asked to spy on visitors.

"I must be nuts." She muttered, ascending the front stairs of the station entrance.

The station was quiet, almost as silent as a ghost-town, and she found the gray and brown wolves with ease as they were in the small lobby. She blinked once when the pup was first to see her and his older companion lifted his head from lying on a bench to see what had caught his attention, before she calmed and stepped closer. "You guys weren't waiting long, were you?" She asked.

"We just got here, or at least it feels like it…" The brunette pup replied, offering a sheepish smile that she found cute, the four silver bangles on his wrist jingling when he rubbed his neck. "Um, do you live here?" He asked.

She smiled wryly and shrugged, answering, "I guess you could say that. My father kind of dragged me here, like a year ago…"

"Sounds like he picked the wrong place to raise a brat if you ask me." The gray wolf interrupted calmly as he had relaxed on the bench when seeing the runt was okay with her.

"Come on, Tsume, don't be like that…" The pup chided with a look back at his companion.

Her smile faltered and she replied rather defensively, "It's not so bad once you get used to it, y'know."

The pup put in before his companion could rebut, "I'm sorry he said that, he's just grumpy because we haven't eaten anything in a while… I'm Toboe, by the way, and that's Tsume. What's your name?" He introduced, catching her by surprise for a moment.

"It's Erika, but everyone calls me ' _Eri'_ … Easier to remember." The she-wolf smiled slightly, glancing behind the christened pup to his companion and noting that he was sore about something or another.

Probably about getting yelled at by their she-wolf.

 **::::x x::::**

Why she had followed him out he hadn't much of a clue; the only reason he could see was that she didn't want to be in the same room with a hungry Hige who showed his belly to the first woman who smiled at him with food on hand… _That_ much he could sympathize with.

Still, she wasn't speaking to him since earlier… She was too cocky for her own good and she would sooner die than be cowed by anyone she didn't like, but she was compassionate and kind behind that façade she had built up for years it seemed.

And to make things worse, she did things to him that just drove him crazy.

Kiba inhaled as he risked another look over at her.

They had walked in silence around the outskirts of the city and, it was when they passed by one ledge of stone that served as a broken off jetty, she stopped walking to rest her feet as she sat down and let her legs dangle over the ledge. Thinking of those wolves that she had ruffled the proverbial feathers of only hours ago, he had dropped back to sit with her.

Even if she was perpetually impossible, he felt he should stick with her… especially in this place.

Nikki watched the stars twinkle and wink down at them from their place in the heavens and almost forgot she had been miffed with her likewise-silent companion. And no matter what she did, his earlier statement about Paradise made a shiver crawl down her spine.

She didn't entirely want to acknowledge that he was here because of chivalry; she could protect herself, especially with those dogs looming about… He didn't need to worry about her.

But he did anyway.

Boy was he stubborn… But strangely, she liked that about him. It made arguing with him that much more fun, and he didn't make it any better for himself when he would make that face when she stumped him, his lips forming into that cute crooked line, and the more she noticed, his green eyes even appeared to have specks of ice…

Damn it, why was she getting giddy over _him?_ He was just another wolf, he was her _friend_ and _companion_ , he was _Kiba!_  
 _  
Her Kiba_ …

She bristled slightly as a shiver raced up her spine at those two little words that made her ache, and she aimlessly kicked her feet as if that would ward away the sensation of heat slowly trickling and pooling in the pit of her belly just thinking about him… _Shit, she was screwed_.

Nikki lifted a hand to run her fingers through her black hair and reflexively knot in the strands as she inhaled and scowled up at the stars as if they were taunting her.

She was so screwed it wasn't the least bit funny.

Kiba noticed the obviously nervous undertone in her gestures, and while this perplexed him because he had never seen her behave that way infront of him, he couldn't help but find it interesting.  
He could only guess what was going on in her head.

Exhaling through her flared nostrils, the she-wolf gave a soft and low growl of frustration and stood up from the jetty to start walking away further along the outskirts.

It's not that she _wanted_ to get killed or get her ass kicked, she just didn't want to succumb to those stupid emotions that only intensified the longer she sat there with him in the _freaking_ starlight in such a _freaking_ romantic spot…

"Can't be _that_ angry with me for earlier." _Damn him_. He was at her heels within seconds and she cursed him even as he came to her right; he glanced down at her from walking in the direction she was going.

Nikki scoffed indifferently and pretended she didn't hear him, picking up her pace to walk ahead of him, only to have him traipse to her side within seconds due to his longer legs. She bristled and stopped just shy of approaching an old wooden fence to scowl up at him as he stopped to face her. "I just… I needed a breath of air. Was starting to get claustrophobic back there." Under the stars with him at her side… She internally growled at the whimsy of it all.

Kiba cocked a dubious brow and felt his lips quirk up at the corners. "It's not like we're back under the dome… I'm glad you're speaking to me, though." He observed.

"I…" _Damn it_ , this was not fair, _he_ was not fair…! She huffed and turned to storm away through the break in the wooden fence to put as much distance between herself and that hotshot, finding a narrow alley dimly lit by a streetlight that looked like it would blow out at any second as it flickered above her.

Much to her chagrin he trailed after her leave with an exasperated exhale escaping his lips as he followed her into the alley. "Why are you running?" He demanded patiently even though he knew that was slowly chipping due to her subconscious need to skirt around the obvious.

She stopped short of hopping a low fence at the back of the alley to square her shoulders and sigh shortly, turning slightly to face him as he had stopped only feet away. "I'm not _running_ , I just don't feel like _talking_." She snapped.

Kiba folded his arms at his chest as he huffed softly. "You can't lie very well to me, can you?" Why did she look beautiful even in the dim light of that streetlight…?

Bristling at his accurate observations, Nikki glared at him. "I don't have to answer to that…" She sniffed as she strode away back the way they had come.

For the moon's sake… Kiba gave a quiet growl as he grabbed a fistful of her coat hem and gently yanked her back, hearing her slight yelp when she was forced to face him, looking down at her as she had accidentally bumped into his chest with her hands lifted to put some measure of distance between their bodies. "Do you have _any_ idea of how much you drive me crazy?" He wondered pointedly, distinctly feeling a shiver race through her body as he held her hands to his chest.

"Well that's your problem more than it is mine…" Nikki hissed as she fought the shiver that jolted along her spine like lightning as she glared up at his darkened green eyes, her words leaving her when his head tilted and his lips crushed hers. She stiffened slightly in surprise before she found her lips betraying her pride as she was kissing back, voicing a growl of frustration that earned a chuckle from him; she jerked her hands free to tease him as she dragged her nails along his neck, hearing a growl come from the mighty alpha, before her fingers knotted in his messy hair and she shoved her tongue against his as a defense against his subconscious will to dominate her.

Kiba groaned into her mouth as he bit her lip and made her draw back for a second only for him to pin her to the nearby wall as his lips covered hers and hungrily stole the breath she sought to curse him with from her, his hands moving of their own accord as one hand fisted his fingers in her black hair and the other kept her close by his grip on her coat.

Nikki managed a slight gasp of protest when his hands found their places on her body, and she growled annoyedly against his damned smiling lips as she lowered one hand from his hair to rake down his left side so her claws dug into the soft flesh of his belly under his white shirt. She smirked victoriously when hearing him hiss between his teeth at her claws, giving a soft whine she didn't know was there when he drew away to catch his breath and inadvertently let her breathe as well; she panted softly and looked up at him from under her brow with curious and strangely innocent eyes.

His face softened at the odd innocence that brightened her blue eyes and he gave a breathy chuckle. "You're cute when you try." He mused quietly.

She felt her flushed cheeks heat up a bit at his words and she glanced away with a reflexive scoff. "You're impossible..." She mumbled, slightly squeaking when he kissed her again, calming when she recognized he didn't seek to dominate but instead kissed for the hell of it. She smiled slowly and hugged his neck with one arm and lifted the other to trace her fingers along the contours of his left cheek as she reciprocated, finding it was easier kissing him when he wasn't being so assertive.

Kiba ran his fingers through her hair to let his fingers trace the cold steel of her right ear's piercings as he slowly drew away from her kisses, feeling a shiver crawl up his arms as her fingers traced his cheek, letting her regain her breath.

Nikki lowered her hand only to pinch his cheek and she giggled when a growl came from him at her gesture, drawing back to smirk at him. "Now we're even." She said.

Briefly wracking his brain for the moment she referred to, Kiba felt his brow twitch as he exhaled shortly and smiled. "Yeah." He amended.

The couple left the alley in favor of continuing their walk. She found it interesting and sweet of him to hold her hand in his as they walked the lonely streets, preferably out of chivalry.

"You two lovebirds shouldn't be waltzing around!" A voice said when they passed a familiar alcove, and the couple looked over at the pack of four or five that stood around the burn barrel that was lit again.

Nikki felt a bristle rise along her spine and she looked away to start leading him away by the hand. "Come on…" She muttered, even though her instincts screamed at her to put those mongrels in their place.

"Should move with your pack!" A second wolf said before they started laughing at the joke.

Kiba exhaled shortly and stopped, causing her to stop as well given their clasped hands, and he scowled over at the others. "What're you lot doing, standing around without a purpose?" He retorted.

"What'd you say?" Fat-nose was among them, much to her chagrin, as he looked over at the two.

Nikki smiled coldly as she lingered at the white wolf's side, "Figures that only these dogs would be thrown out into the cold, as worthless as they are." She chimed in.

Fat-nose growled and stepped away from the burn barrel, "You smart-mouthed little bitch…"

A growl rumbled in Kiba's chest as Nikki brazenly bared her teeth when the five wolves circled them, and with a short bark they converged on the two.

Fur flew in the air as the couple sprang into action, Kiba taking on two on his own as Nikki took the remaining three.

One wolf yelped sharply in pain when she ripped into his side and was knocked away by the she-wolf, fleeing the scene with his tail between his legs as she turned on the second and headbutted him in the cheek to knock him back into a nearby dumpster back-first.

The black wolf yipped when the third wolf grabbed her scruff in his jaws and threw her aside so she rolled.

' _No!_ ' The white wolf snarled between cowing one of the two wolves he had taken on, kicking him away to lunge for the pudgy wolf that advanced on her when he was knocked aside by the wolf he had snapped at.

Nikki scrambled back onto her feet to circle Fat-nose, baring her teeth with her tail in the air, before she snarled as she leapt at him and narrowly avoided having her paw snapped in his jaws to tear into his thick scruff and clamp her stronger jaws in his bleeding shoulder to toss him away. She pinned him to the ground when he landed on his belly, her teeth yanking on one of his ears and she momentarily took pleasure in hearing a pained whimper from the older wolf. She thundered a growl and yanked harder, ' _Stay away from my pack, you worthless dog_.' She advised coldly, releasing his ear to lope away down the alley and hearing her companion shortly tail her.

Once they put enough distance between they and the defeated wolves, she shook her fur and gave a short howl of victory, her ears twitching when he joined in for that moment. She turned to the wolf who looked as scruffy as her but he still looked painstakingly mighty to her eyes, and her tail wagged as she leaned in to bury her nose into his thick scruff with a relieved whine.

He smiled as his tail wagged at having escaped that alley safely and with his beautiful she-wolf at his side, and he gently nipped her ear with a soft growl.

A loud howl then ripped into the night, breaking what measure of a moment they had as both wolves looked up at the familiar call.

' _Toboe_ …' She began with a worried light that entered her silver eyes.

His face seemed to harden as he nodded, ' _Something's up. Come on_.' He led the way at a sprint as they flew in the direction of the train station blocks away.

 **::::x x::::**

The pup perked up when Zoli's attention was drawn away from the spectacle, looking at where his gaze went. "Guys, look!" He declared, making the three look off at the new arrivals.

The white wolf looked from the humans with whips on hand to the wolves hooked to the sled carrying the crates of supplies as his blood boiled and he bolted for the humans at top speed with a snarl escaping him. A heavier body dropped ontop of him before he could reach the humans and he fell with the other retraining him and trying to pin him as he squirmed and snarled and fought.

A loud growl ripped into the air as a streak of black knocked the older alpha off her companion, both gray and black wolves rolling away. The enraged she-wolf quickly took the precious seconds the older wolf used to regain himself to hop onto his back and sink her teeth into his scruff, claws digging into his sides as he snarled and bucked and tried to get her off his back even as she held fast, snarling back with her tail in the air. ' _Leave him be!_ ' She angrily growled between the dark gray fur in her mouth.

Zoli ran for the nearest concrete wall on the side of the ramp and slammed his left side into the concrete, hearing a pained yelp escape the she-wolf who fell from his back and crumpled to the floor; he glowered down at her before a thunderous snarl came from the white wolf who flew at him from the left and knocked him away from contemplating doing anything else to his female.

Nikki felt her head spin as she shook it and steadily straightened to her feet, stiffening slightly when a muzzle nudged hers from the right, and she looked into the familiar dark gold eyes of her brother. She whined softly in relief and rested her head against his cheek. ' _Tsume_ …' She began.

Tsume held her close and was mindful of her probably-bruised back, looking off at Zoli and Kiba with hardened amber eyes.

* * *

 **an** : sorry for the delay guys! i had a sudden epiphany like at last second and decided to edit this before it got any further along. hope you guys liked the changes? idk but i gotta thank everyone who's been keeping up with this story so far, you guys are amazing :)


	7. GOSPEL II

*  
 **key** : ' _wolf speech'_ / "human speech"

* * *

 _ **GOSPEL II**_

* * *

A hiss escaped from between her teeth. "Damn it…"

"I told you to keep still… It's not like this is easy for me either." He scolded impatiently, hearing her give a ' _humph_ ' and shut up as he finished winding the wrappings around her bruised back.

She was silently grateful she had chosen to keep a damn bra given situations like this, and she gingerly straightened to shrug her gray tank back on, looking down at the wrappings around her left wrist that slightly overlapped the binds she had kept on her hands to protect them from the elements, and she looked for her coat only to be handed it by her brother. She slightly scowled as she snatched it from his hand and shrugged it over her shoulders, looking away.  
"Thanks." It's not that she was still miffed from the other day, she was just waiting for the lecture she knew would come, and there was no doubt that it would come soon.

He wasn't their father but he didn't miss a chance to act like him when she was in trouble… So typical.

Hige and Toboe had been shooed out of the mausoleum minutes ago to go find some food and or herbs on the pup's part as he wanted to help the couple who were still recovering from the fortnight's fiasco. And to make her luck worse, Tsume was left in charge as the pupsitter.

Kiba looked up at her as she sat with him, slightly straightening in his slouching position only to regret it as his back protested the motion, and he calmed when she reached to stroke his cheek. Blue met green and he smiled wryly, holding her hand to his cheek. "You look like crap." He mused.

Nikki's lip jutted out and she lightly slapped his cheek. "Pot calling the kettle black." She remarked before quieting when he chuckled, and her face softened as she looked away with a giggle.

While the thought of mushy romantic crap going on infront of him automatically left him nauseated, the gray wolf would admit it was nice to see her brighten up again. It felt like centuries since he'd seen her smile like that. Shoving the melancholy away, Tsume folded his arms at his chest. "Y'know it's not over just yet." He reminded.

"Those mongrels don't deserve a lick of respect from me, Zoli included… How can any wolf live like this, anyway, scrounging and accepting that you're no worse than a lapdog?" Nikki remarked before her lip curled at the thought of being a human's pet.

She would never let that happen to herself, or to the boys.

"We did what we had to do when we lived in the dome, Nikki." Except for the lapdog part. Tsume scowled at her and continued when she started to retort, "And if I recall correctly, **I** wasn't the one who pissed off those dogs that we could've just left alone so we wouldn't still _be_ in this craptastic place." He shot a look at Kiba who had glanced at her from looking up at him.

"Well I didn't see _you_ do anything about it, so _someone_ had to, Tsume! I won't knuckle under just to please a pack of cowed dogs who sell their own souls, and you know that." Nikki snapped as she straightened to glare at him, hackles bristling even as her ribs ached at the quick movement.

"You forget that I know you, and I know that those dogs weren't the _only_ reason you jumped their alpha." Tsume growled out as his amber gaze fell on the white wolf again.

Nikki's mouth curled into a snarl closed shut at his observations and she glanced away as her ears burned.

"It wasn't her fault." Kiba said from behind, making her look at him with slight surprise, and he continued, "Nikki only acted to defend me, and because what Zoli did pissed the both of us off. We had to do something." He steadily got to his feet and slightly shook his head when she moved to help him up, green meeting amber.

"The next time you want to act like a hero, don't drag her into it. I don't care for whatever-the-hell happened between you two last night but drag her into something that stupid again and I'll kick your ass. Got it?" Tsume said as he took a step closer to their supposed leader and ignored the reproving look from his sibling.

Kiba nodded slightly and caught the mild exasperation in said she-wolf's eyes, smiling wryly, "At least we agree on something, for once." He said if only to ease her mind.

Nikki gave a short exhale, "I'd punch you if you weren't still recovering… But you're right." She smirked cheekily at her brother's mild look before shuffling to grab the younger wolf's white shirt and toss it at him. "As tough as you are, y'look cold." She added.  
 _  
Same old Nikki_ , Tsume thought as he resumed his place by the doorway. "Y'know, you two are almost as nauseatingly sweet as you usually are…" He mused aloud, his ears perking when they heard someone approaching the mausoleum and he bristled as he recognized who it was, ignoring the question in his sister's voice when he shifted to block the doorway.

A slight yelp came from the she-wolf when she ran face-first into his chest and stumbled back, rubbing her nose gingerly. "O-ow… Watch it!" She barked, looking up through one eye at the gray wolf and relaxing somewhat. "Oh you… Tsume, right?"

"What the hell're you _doing_ here, brat? I'd have figured your alpha told you lot to steer clear of us." Tsume demanded, keeping his arms firmly folded at his chest, as his amber held her brown.

Eri tried not to wince at the thought of what had happened in the train station, also folding her arms. "He did, but I have a thing called ' _selective hearing_ '… I imagine _you're_ no stranger to it either." She replied coolly, sniffing.

"I thought making new friends who weren't human was beneath you, Tsume…" Nikki commented as she approached the two with her coat shrugged on her shoulders, looking at the younger wolf and smiling apologetically, "Sorry about him, he's just bein' a grouch. I didn't know there were other she-wolves on this island." She said.

Eri smirked briefly when the other she-wolf smacked her brother's arm and he reluctantly let her come in, pretending she didn't feel daggers sticking into her back coming from the older wolf. "Yeah, well, my father is kind of overprotective… I saw what happened at the station and came to see if you guys needed help." She replied, looking from the black wolf to her mate who looked as banged-up as her, and she hurriedly looked elsewhere when his green eyes met her brown.

"Well we don't, least of all from _you_." Tsume stated firmly, ignoring the scowl from his sister, as he was also looking at her. He nodded at the doorway, "you prolly won't get too much lip from your old man if you leave us alone."

Eri bristled slightly and scowled at him, "Don't act so stubborn, I know you need help. If not for you then for your sister…"

"Leave her out of this, brat." Tsume growled out as he also bristled.

"You don't look much like him, y'know." Both gray wolves looked to the white wolf who had straightened with his jacket on his shoulders. "But I gotta admit it's strange for someone like you to help out a pack that isn't yours." He added pensively.

Nikki pondered for a moment on his statement and slightly tilted her head before it clicked, and she nodded, "I think it's sweet… I didn't catch your name, though." She smiled.

"E-eh, right… it's Eri." Eri slightly shook her head before returning the smile, surprised the other she-wolf wasn't as hostile towards her like she was towards her father. "Um, I heard what you said the other day, about Paradise… Are you serious about going there?" What was she _doing_ , asking _that_ of all things? She had believed, since that day, that Paradise wasn't real and that it was unreachable by all rights.

It was just an imaginary place… right?

Nikki blinked once before she pulled the sleeves of her coat on, "Yeah, of course. My – _our_ —mother," she slightly nodded to her sibling, "always told me it existed, and I… Well, I believe her and I'm going to find out for myself." She explained, catching the hesitant but excited look in the other girl's brown eyes and her gaze softened slightly.

"You should come with us, if you're that curious about it." Kiba added, also seeing the excited look on her face, nodding to his significant other when meeting her surprised brown eyes, "pretty sure Nikki wouldn't mind having another girl around."

Nikki felt her ears warm up and she gently ribbed him, "Since when do _you_ read minds…?"

"You _can't_ be serious…" Tsume started with a disbelieving scoff.

Eri spoke up, "I would, I mean that since you're both being so nice and all, but my father…" She trailed off when the brown pup suddenly dashed into the mausoleum and brought his feet to a halt, surprising the four of them. "Toboe?" She wondered.

"Kiba, are you two okay now?" Toboe asked their leader.

Kiba nodded and replied, "Yeah, we're fine… Sorry."

"Eri, you're here too? What's going on?" Toboe asked surprisedly, looking at the second she-wolf.

Tsume cut in, "Where's Porky?"

Toboe gulped slightly and answered, "That's the problem; he got caught in a big trap, and the humans took him away somewhere!" Toboe answered.

"All he has to do is trick the humans who caught him and he's home free," Nikki offered, catching the grim look on the other female's face, and she raised both brows.

Toboe shook his head, "Yeah but he was knocked out by those other wolves, the ones that live here!"

Tsume grumbled an oath, "Why the hell would they do that…? And why didn't you let us know by howling? You should've followed them!" He declared as he scowled at the pup.

"Good point… Eri, wait, where're you going?" Toboe perked up as the second she-wolf left the mausoleum and Nikki shortly followed, " _O-onee-chan_ , you guys shouldn't move so much!" He added worriedly as Kiba was on her heels.

Nikki scoffed even as she paused at the pup's words, "I'm not moving, I'm just gonna kill that fat-nosed dog, that's all." She looked at the white wolf, "Can you run?" She asked.

Kiba nodded and afforded a small smile of confirmation, "Yeah, let's go." He heard her shortly follow with Toboe at her side and Eri at the helm.

Tsume refrained from slapping his forehead once again as he followed the four before an idea came to him. "This'll take forever…!" He then rushed forward to hoist their supposed leader over his shoulder.

"H-hey, Tsume!" Kiba barked in surprise.

"I know who can tell us where they took him, come on!" Eri declared as she had jogged ahead of the pack, looking back at them for a moment to receive a curt nod from Nikki, before she led the way to the city at a sprint.

 **::::x x::::**

The five wolves raced through the streets before the white wolf said he could walk on his own and therein made them stop so the gray wolf could let him down.

The younger she-wolf's ears perked as both she and the white wolf were first to spot the same woman from the night before as she walked into an alley yards away, and the five jogged to follow her into the alley.

Four of the male wolves from the previous night perked up at seeing their female had been followed, and one of the lankier wolves scoffed at seeing the younger wolves, "Guess last night's beating didn't sink in well, did it, lovebirds?" Their amusement was gone seconds later when recognizing the younger she-wolf and the same lankier wolf demanded, "What the hell're you doin' with _them_ , Erika?"

"You know these guys, Eri?" Toboe asked as the attention was drawn to said she-wolf.

Eri ignored his question, stepping forward, "What'd you do with the tan wolf who's traveling with them, Jed? Where's Moss?" She demanded. It was only a matter of time before they realized whose daughter she was.

"Like we'd tell _you_ … Even if Zoli _is_ your old man, ya can't go ordering us around." The named wolf sneered as he came forward.

"Erika, we strictly told you not to get involved…" Cole spoke up this time with a reproving look on her pretty face.

Eri bristled, "I know that! Da may be your mate but _you're_ not my mother, Cole, so don't start acting like it, okay?" She snapped, even though she held some respect for the woman but this wasn't the time or place. "I'm gonna ask again, what did you do with him?" She asked with what patience lingered.

She didn't look much like her father, except when she was in a mood, Tsume recognized, raising a brow as the other wolves stiffened and looked past them, making him look to see the named alpha had walked into the alley.

"Zoli?" Cole perked up.

"Da…" Eri began with some hurt before she demanded, "Da, what did you _do?_ "

" _You_ ordered this, then?" Tsume demanded of the older alpha.

Zoli scowled at him, " _'Ordered'_ what, what're you talking about?"

"You sold our friend to those disgusting _humans_ , didn't you?" Nikki asked sharply as she glared at him.

"He said for them to kill him, I heard him!" Toboe supplied as he pointed at Fat-nose.

" _Moss!_ " Zoli growled out in annoyance as he put two and two together.

Nikki snarled as she sprang onto the fat-snouted wolf, hearing him snarl when she pinned him to the ground, to which she thundered a furious growl back. ' _You traitorous son of a_ …'

A louder growl rang out as another set of teeth yanked on her scruff hard, making her yelp slightly, before she was tossed off of Moss. The she-wolf bared her teeth in anger only to stiffen when the older alpha decked his disobedient packmate.

"This is _my_ pack!" Zoli snarled at her, watching the she-wolf straighten only to spit to the side and coldly glare at him, turning to the cowed wolf before him, "Why the hell did you sell out their friend, Moss?" He demanded coldly.

"He's an outsider, that's why, like that self-righteous whore back there." Moss scoffed as he rubbed his jaw, not missing the murderous glare from said she-wolf who was held back by her brother's grip. He nodded to the younger she-wolf, "But _neither_ of 'em are as backstabbing as your brat! She disobeyed the pack…"

"Shut your mouth, Moss!" Eri snapped angrily, "I did what I thought was right!"

The second chubby wolf looked to his alpha, "The apple don't fall very far from the tree, right Zoli? Isn't it true you've been sellin' out your friends too? And don't play dumb; you don't even do a dog's work!"

Zoli glared at the main perpetrator, "Is that how you really feel?" He asked quietly, "I thought I was doing the right thing for the pack, so long as my feelings didn't get in the way. Everything I did, I did for the pack, for my daughter." He said, looking away to said female.

"Da…" Eri looked at him with surprise.

"Well none of us see you as the leader anymore!" Moss declared as he decked him and knocked him down so he and the other three wolves began beating him.

" **No**!" Eri exclaimed as she made to jump in when a firm hand grabbed her shoulder from behind, and she looked up at the gray wolf, frustrated tears starting to sting her eyes. "T-Tsume…" She began.

Tsume wasn't looking at her even as he heard her barely stifle a whimper, looking on the scene with disgust.

Kiba looked at their she-wolf as she winced when Cole demanded they stop beating the older alpha, meeting her blue eyes that held a measure of disgust for the scene.

Nikki glared after Moss as he and his friends fled the alley, stepping up to the older alpha as Eri was first to his side while Cole helped him sit up. "Where do you think they took him?" She asked quietly.

"They loaded him on an orange truck," Toboe answered, earning a glance from both she-wolves.

Zoli looked on the four wolves through one eye that wasn't as swollen as the other, "If you're thinking of giving up on Paradise, now would be the time." He said.

"I don't have anywhere to go back to; I have to keep going forward." Kiba answered.

"Even if we're headed to hell." Tsume agreed, earning four sets of eyes, and he continued as he stepped up to his sister's side, "You lot may not have gotten to Paradise, but there's no doubt in my mind that _we're_ going to get there." He stated.

"Tsume…" Toboe said quietly in shock that was shared with Kiba and Nikki.

Eri sniffed and smiled wryly, looking at her father when recognizing what she had to do.

Nikki's eyes softened and she reflexively punched his shoulder. "At least we're going together… aren't we?" She wondered as their eyes met.

Tsume quieted and smirked wryly at seeing that zeal shine in her eyes, and he nodded. "You'd have to be crazy if y'think you're going any further without me." He replied, watching her beam.

Zoli stood then, earning a raised brow from the younger wolves as he nodded to his mate to assure her that he was fine, before he turned to lead the way down the alley and let the four wolves follow. He was surprised for a moment when hearing the lighter footsteps of his daughter to glance back and see her running along with the younger wolves, and he smiled wryly.

 **::::x x::::**

Wincing from the rather hard fall while inside the cage, Hige opened his eyes to see his friends standing around his cage. He grumbled and straightened to his feet, "Why do you guys have to be so rough?" He whined.

"Do you know how lucky you are to be _alive?_ " Toboe scolded.

Nikki gave an exasperated chuckle as she looked at the tan wolf, "Couldn't have said it better myself, pup."

"You can get yourself out of there, right?" Tsume rolled his eyes.

Hige huffed slightly, "Yeah but that barbaric crap isn't really my thing."

Kiba slightly shook his head before he stepped forward to bend the bars at the right enough angle for the tan wolf to slip out.

 **::::x x::::**

Despite finding with no surprise that the tunnel stunk almost as badly as the entryway, she was glad to leave this place.

"You're not coming, then." Their leader wondered of the scarred wolf.

Said alpha let his eyes rest on the darkness in the tunnel, "Nah. But I'd like to think that, in the end, there's those who can make it to Paradise and there're also those who can't. I'm convinced of that… It's time you lot find out if there really is a Paradise at the end of this path."

Her brother huffed slightly, "Come to think of it, you don't really act like a wolf."

"Tsume," the younger alpha began to say.

"A wolf protects its own," the she-wolf remarked calmly as she nodded to the older alpha, "It's not normal for another alpha to look out for a pack that isn't his."

Zoli regarded the siblings and huffed wryly as he mused aloud, "Then maybe I have fallen." He looked at the second she-wolf as she looked both excited to leave and sad as well, placing his hand on her head and tousling her hair. "But you haven't… have you?"

Eri looked briefly at her age-mates before looking up at him and she hugged him, being held just as tightly, drawing away with some reluctance. "I still remember that day, when you came back by yourself, and I… I'm not gonna suffer like you did, Da. I think Mum would agree, if she were here... I want to see with my own eyes if Paradise is real after all." She said with another sniff at mention of her late mother.

Zoli smiled ruefully at the same thought, brushing locks of brown from her cheek, huffing. "That she would… She'd be proud that you're doing this. You're always going to be my pup, no matter what, but it's days like this where I almost forget how grown you are." He said as he nodded her forward, watching her smile sadly before she obeyed; he looked to the white wolf, "Keep an eye on her for me."

Kiba caught the flicker of pity in his mate's blue irises and nodded slightly to the older alpha, being first to take off down the tunnel. He glanced to the left when their she-wolf came to his flank and heard Tsume, Hige, Toboe and Eri follow them.

* * *

 **an** : forgot to mention in the last note, but the chaps from here on are edited. again, hope you guys don't hate me too much for that? anyway, adding one more chap today just bc i love you guys.


	8. Float

**key** : ' _wolf speech'_ / "human speech"

* * *

 _ **Float**_

* * *

Given two out of the four males were the only ones thinking coherently, they found their leader's trudging on without having consulted with which way he was leading them to be irksome if not annoying. Especially after they had left the island not two weeks ago.

"Since you haven't been definite so far, just what's leading you now?" The oldest of their little pack asked as he had trailed after their designated alpha.

Said younger wolf confidently replied over his shoulder, "I'm going on instinct."

" _'Instinct'_ …?" The pudgy wolf echoed with some exasperation, looking at the older female for some measure of sanity. "Oi Nik, you can't say you agree with him… right?"

Said she-wolf seemed thoughtful for a moment from her place walking with both younger wolves, "Well yeah, actually. I think we're headed in the right direction for once." She answered.

"You're almost as vague as your boytoy here…" Her brother muttered as he lagged behind to look at her, pretending she didn't scowl at overhearing him.

Hige lamented, "For once we agree on something… I just wish we felt like we were getting closer to actually getting somewhere…"

Toboe made a face, "Come on, Hige, you've gotta think positive…" He looked at the younger she-wolf, "Even Eri's being more positive than you are!" He added.

Eri smiled sheepishly at being pulled into the conversation, "Toboe has a point, especially since you're the one who was almost mince-meat." She nodded to the tan wolf, giggling when he pouted at the reminder.

"Still think it's too early for you to take sides, _brat_." Tsume huffed. He hadn't been too thrilled to have another wolf with them, especially since Zoli was her father, and especially since she was almost as annoying as his sister. "'Sides, you're gonna get Porky's hopes up."

"I'd have thought sounding cool for one second of your life would've convinced you to pull the stick out of your ass, _jerkoff_." Eri sniffed even as her brow twitched for a moment.

"Like _you're_ one to talk, bratzilla… And if anyone's got a stick up their ass, it's _obviously_ you." Tsume scoffed annoyedly as he scowled back at her.

" _Please_ , I'm a ray of sunshine compared to you…" Eri retorted as she returned the scowl.

"Guys, come on…" Nikki tried to placate the squabbling couple before her ears twitched at catching the shrill beeping of an airship above. She winced at the sharpness of the noise as they had stopped to look up at the clouded skies where the noise came from, contemplating covering her ears like the pup had.

"I hate that noise…" Toboe grumbled, and Tsume couldn't find room to disagree.

The ground shook beneath them then as an aerial battle broke out in the skies above, making the pup yelp in surprise as he latched onto the younger she-wolf near him who also started.

Feeling that familiar tug which was more like a sharp yank that pulled at her chest, Nikki flinched before she looked up at the sky, "No way… Kiba!" She declared in shock.

"I felt it too… She's there!" Kiba agreed in an awestruck tone, surprising the quartet, as he walked ahead of them towards the source.

Tsume scowled between the couple, "It's none of our business; snap out of it, Kiba." He said as he looked at their alpha who hadn't seemed to hear a word he said.

Kiba bristled slightly and looked at his pack, "Don't you guys feel anything?" He demanded before loping off towards where the Beacon would be.

"Does he always do this...?" Eri wondered aloud, perking up as Nikki raced after him. "H-hey, Nikki!"

"Wait up, guys!" Hige called.

Tsume muttered a ' _tch'_ and looked at the three, "Come on!" He raced after the couple.

 **::::x x::::**

Being here at the top of the mountain was actually peaceful. It seemed all the frustration and griping was gone like if it had never entered their pack.

For once in her life, she felt at peace.

Her claws stuck into the bank of the large pond as she had hesitated to follow him to greet the pale girl they had chased for what felt like years. She felt at peace here but at the same time some part of her –the doubt instilled in the back of her mind that Tsume had fed through the last count of years—still wondered if this wasn't a dream or if she had inhaled the stink of that tunnel from the island which caused her to hallucinate… Her silver gaze was caught in the crimson stare of the Flower Maiden, and it took her conscious a half second before she recognized the girl was staring at her.

A kind smile appeared on the girl's lips and she said gently, "It is alright… This one has been waiting for you as well, Nikki."

Nikki steeled herself from hesitating further, declawing her paws from the bank to walk forward into the shallow waters to greet the girl, slightly wincing when a warm nose nudged her cheek from the left. She met the softened gold eyes of the white wolf and calmed, nudging back and her tail wagged slightly when he grumbled affectionately, looking up as the girl placed a hand on her head with the same kind smile in place.

That doubt that she had carried, the frostbitten and hardened doubt she'd held for most of her teenage years, was now gone… Her mother had been right all along.  
 _  
Paradise was real_.

 **::::x x::::**

If she didn't _already_ detest humans…

Eri winced at the repeating gunfire's noise, poking her head out for a second only for the soldier who had spotted her to be cut down by their alpha. "No chill whatsoever…" She mused aloud, ears twitching when the other she-wolf placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at her. "Nikki?"

"Stay with Toboe," Nikki instructed her, receiving a short nod, before joining her packmates in fending off the soldiers they had the unfortunate chance of running into, lunging at another oncoming soldier and knocking him down with his throat ripped open. She briefly glanced at the shocked expression on his face before huffing as she snatched the small belt he'd had that had a few grenades still unlocked hanging from the belt. "These might be useful…"

"Nikki!" Kiba snatched her out of the way just as a hail of bullets came on them from one of the smaller tunnels leading to theirs, covering her even as a stray bullet whizzed past his ear, and he perked up when the bullets suddenly stopped flying.

Both chosen wolves poked their heads out of hiding to see Hige and Tsume had returned in time, the latter wolf flicking stray blood from his trusted knife.

"Your timing was actually perfect for once." Nikki huffed as she straightened first and emerged from their place behind a short wall.

Tsume smirked at her sarcasm and started to remark when he took note of the grenade belt she had on hand, and his smirk faltered. "You stole that thing?" He demanded.

Nikki scowled even as she fastened the belt at her waist, "They might come in handy in the future, y'know! I learned to be resourceful from _you_ , remember…?"

"You two can argue later, they've got that end closed off… What're we gonna do?" Hige cut across the siblings, looking to their alpha.

Tsume scowled at his sister before following the tan wolf's stare, "If we left her here, it'd be easier. She's what they're after, right?" He suggested.

"No way!" Kiba sharply declined.

Nikki agreed, "Kiba's right, we can't let them take her again! We just need to think quick…"

"Guys!" Toboe spoke up then, making the four look to him to see he and Eri stood infront of an open corridor before they followed them in to find Cheza at the end.

"This way," Cheza declared when hearing the wolves enter the corridor, taking off again and hearing the six shortly follow her leave.

* * *

 **an** : not much to put except that (1) sorry for the short chap, just think of it as an unofficial prologue and (2) i hope you guys liked the update! tell me what you think about the changes too, if you want. anyway, lates!


	9. Sleeping Wolves

**key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 _ **Sleeping Wolves**_

* * *

She experienced doubt as much as the next girl, sure, but she didn't doubt Cheza. She was the one who was leading them to Paradise, after all.

Why would the boys doubt what was right infront of them?

A gentle tug on her sleeve pulled her from her thoughts, and the she-wolf glanced at her charge. She smiled with some exasperation and rubbed her neck with her free hand, "Sorry about the boys, they're just… well, pig-headed, I guess you could call it." She apologized quietly.

She shook her head, "It is alright. This one is glad to see they at least listen to you, Nikki. This one believes they will come around." She replied with a light smile.

The she-wolf smiled wryly, "Guess that makes sense, doesn't it, considering they need a woman's touch now and then." Granted it was exhausting dealing with two of them plus her brother, but she wasn't the only she-wolf present in their little pack. "Rather two women I suppose, right Eri?"

The younger she-wolf chuckled, "Yeah. I gotta admit that I had brothers, but none of them were like yours…" She mused.

"…Isn't that what makes her a threat to us?" Speak of the devil; both women were drawn into the conversation at overhearing the gray wolf's rebuttal. "If she stinks up the place it'll give away our location." He went on as his gaze was set on their supposed leader.

Nikki shared a look with Eri and briefly wondered why she wasn't an only child, "Human noses aren't as sharp as ours so stop worrying for once." She said patiently.

Tsume shifted slightly to scowl at her, catching the rather guarded way she stood by the other girl. "Dunno, my nose is sharper than yours, given you're high on flower stink."

"You're not the alpha anymore, Tsume, so pull the stick out of your ass and knock it off." Nikki folded her arms at her chest as she shifted her weight from boot to boot.

"Just because you're head bitch here doesn't mean you can start tellin' me what to do, _baby sister_. That also sure-as-hell doesn't excuse the fact that you took a grenade belt from those humans. Ever since we left the dome I wondered if you even had any sanity in that thick head of yours." Tsume took a step closer to her even as their glares held fast in the tension-electrified air.

Nikki bristled as she also took a step forward, "I am my father's daughter…"

"Guys, come on, cut it out!" Toboe said anxiously as they looked between the siblings.

Kiba extended his arm infront of the she-wolf, "Toboe's right, that's enough from the both of you." He scowled between Tsume and Nikki even as his green stare lingered on the she-wolf's narrowed eyes.

Tsume's lip curled in a grimace, "Keep your nose out of this, Kiba; this never concerned you." He growled.

"Nikki is my mate whether you like it or not, so this **is** my business." Kiba returned testily as green locked on amber.

The electrified tension fled suddenly when humming sounded from the back, causing the six to look at Cheza who was wordlessly singing, and a blanket of drowsiness overcame the wolves.

Toboe, Eri and Hige were first to fall asleep; Tsume vainly looked to his sister who also fell asleep snuggled against the white wolf's right side, before he was the last to let sleep take him.

 **::::x x::::**

' ** _Nikki_** …'

A disgruntled whine came from the black wolf as she snuggled deeper into the warm pelt, ' _Five more minutes, Tsume_ …' She grumbled.

Rolling his eyes, the white wolf tugged on her ear. ' _Wake up, princess_.' He urged a bit louder, slightly shuffling away when her eyes opened and she recognized where she had slept; he smirked wryly, ' _Morning_.'

Nikki slightly lowered her ears and looked elsewhere, ' _Could've warned me it was you_.' She muttered.

' _It came to mind but I thought your being curled up in a ball was cute_.' Kiba mused innocently, wincing a bit when she nipped his ear, making a face, ' _Can't take a compliment, can you?_ ' He wondered.

' _Not when you wake me like you did_ ,' Nikki puffed as she sat on her haunches, yawning and looking to see her brother was still sawing logs by the tree he'd fallen asleep at the night before. ' _I haven't slept so good in… it's been years_.' She said pensively.

Kiba regarded the bleak sunlight that touched on her black-as-night pelt and he smiled privately. ' _Would you rather I have done something more_ _ **noticeable**_ _to wake you up?_ ' He wondered, seeing her ears perk.

Shivering at the implication as she caught the twinkle in his eyes, Nikki made a face. ' _Keep your morning wood to yourself, **hotshot**_.' She advised dryly.

' _Sheesh, even at daybreak you two are arguing_.' The couple stiffened slightly at the tan wolf's comment, and said pudgy wolf had a deadpan expression on his face whereas the brown wolf at his side looked between the trio with some confusion.

The lighter-gray wolf made a face from having been awoken by the pup, ' _And you lot get after Tsume and me for bickering so much_ …' She yawned.

' _How long were you sitting there?_ ' Kiba wondered rather annoyedly as he straightened and scowled at his friend.

Nikki stretched her paws out, ' _Never mind that, I'm still surprised you three are awake so early. I thought you'd still be snoring away like Tsume_.' She nodded to said gray wolf who was being watched over by Cheza.

' _Well Toboe kept kicking in his sleep, he woke me up_ ,' Eri defended with a gentle nudge to the pup in question.

Toboe replied sheepishly, ' _You slept pretty soundly too, Eri_.'

' _I was wondering who was snoring **louder** , E or Tsume…_' Hige lamented before wincing when said she-wolf nipped his cheek in response, ' _Anyway, the runt and I were talkin' and figured we should check out the nearby town for food. Can't keep going on an empty stomach, can you?_ ' He proposed.

The chosen pair shared a brief look before nodding at the truth of their friend's idea. ' _Good idea, but what about Tsume?_ ' Kiba said before looking over at said sleeping wolf.

Nikki looked at the Flower Maiden who had looked to them and she smiled, ' _Cheza will look out for him, right?_ ' She received a nod.

Kiba nodded as well, ' _Fair enough, let's go_.' He agreed as he stood and let Hige lead the way to the town, following with Toboe and the girls.

 **::::x x::::**

At not finding much, the couple was first to return to their makeshift camp a few hours later.

Tsume was first to greet them, surprisingly in a grumpy mood given the good sleep he'd had, scowling as their leader informed him of the soldiers that had blocked any means of escape from the nearby town. He caught the amused smirk on his sister's face and cocked a brow, "What's so funny?" He demanded.

"Nothin', just glad you got some good sleep for once." Nikki shrugged innocently as Kiba let them have a moment alone.

"Coulda woken me up, y'know, instead of leaving me with _her_ ," Tsume huffed indifferently as he pointed over his shoulder.

Nikki rolled her eyes, "I tried but Cheza insisted that you needed your sleep… Seems to have taken a few worry lines off your face too, ironically." She giggled when he shot her a dagger-filled scowl, sobering and asking, "We okay?"

Recalling the exchange of words the night before, Tsume also sobered and looked elsewhere as he rubbed his neck. "Yeah, we're good. Just tell me you lifted something the next time around… You're the only pain-in-the-ass sister I've got." He gave her a look.

"Like you're the only asshat brother _I've_ got." Nikki nodded, gently slugging his arm and walking past him to meet the white wolf.

Tsume rubbed his arm and looked at her to see her significant other take her hand in his and he turned away to huff and resume stretching his legs.

"Not still nursing that refusal from this morning, are you?" Nikki wondered.

Kiba squeezed her hand, "If you're having second thoughts…"

Nikki's cheeks colored and she looked away, "Flattering as it is, no." It wasn't that she didn't want it, she just had never done it before.

"Then I won't unless you ask." Kiba said calmly even as some part of him protested, and at the deepened pink in her cheeks he released her hand to hug her shoulders, adding, "I'm not that kind of guy, Nik… Though I'm aware of your knifework, I also respect you too much to just take it from you."

Some part of her that shivered when he had kissed her on the island shivered once again at hearing his words, and Nikki nuzzled his neck. "Sweet puppy." She teased.

Kiba gave a short and exasperated exhale, quelling the shiver he felt when she breathed on his neck, holding her closer and curled his fingers in her surprisingly soft locks. "Shut up." He grumbled, making her giggle.

Hige, Toboe and Eri returned within an hour, bringing food as well as gifts for Cheza.

Cheza frowned softly when the pup placed a fur-coat on her shoulders.

"You don't like it…" Toboe mumbled, crestfallen.

Kiba commented from his seat on the nearby tree's roots, "Sure seems like it."

Nikki ribbed him before stepping up to remove the coat, "You tried, right?" Granted she couldn't disagree with Kiba; the coat looked like he had taken it right off a sleeping bear.

"Told ya it wasn't gonna work… I think she'll like these better," Hige huffed as he came forward to place a pair of pink boots before the girl.

Tsume folded his arms at his chest, "I wouldn't be so sure about that." He looked at the younger female, "Oi, you're a girl too, shouldn't you have put your two cents in?" He asked.

Eri made a face that he would admit was funny. "I did, how _else_ do you think Hige found those pink boots?" She quieted when Cheza seemed to light up at slipping the boots on, hopping to her feet to test them out; she was soon laughing softly as she twirled around like… well, like a flower. Eri smiled thoughtfully at the sight.

Nikki also found herself smiling before it faltered when the girl immediately stopped and froze in place as her crimson eyes widened and stared ahead. "What's up, Cheza…?" Her ears perked as she followed the girl's stare to see a pale old woman staring back through a pair of black sunglasses.

Hige and Toboe also froze at recognizing the old crow as Kiba and Tsume reflexively bristled; Eri stiffened slightly from her place by Tsume; Nikki wordlessly stepped forward to defend the girl.

"Who are you?" Cheza asked of the old lady who started towards them.

 **::::x x::::**

' _Is it all right that this one stays with you?_ '

Ridiculous as the question sounded, she understood why she asked it… She would've felt just as lonely if she didn't have Tsume.

Nikki regarded the waxing moon that was starting to come out and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Kiba looked at her and noted the thoughtful look on her face. "Don't frown so much, your face will get stuck like that." He mused quietly.

Nikki looked up at him and hesitated to speak when recognizing that he saw the thoughtful look on her face, and her cheeks warmed slightly before she chuckled. "Honestly…" Her ears perked when feeling that tug on her coat sleeve and she looked to see the girl was ready to leave. She quieted when noting the downcast expression on her pale face and let her lead the way out of the forest.

* * *

 **an** : not much to put (again) but i made some wolf's rain stuff on my **tumblr ** if anyone is curious. link is in the bio.


	10. Dead Trees Talking I

**key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 ** _Dead Trees Talking I_**

* * *

Bristling slightly when recognizing the same black dog from Freeze City, she was taken by surprise when seeing the girl didn't fear that hunter's mutt.

"We have a friend, even here," Cheza said lightly, drawing away from the chosen duo to approach the leashed canine, crouching to look at it even as the two wolves followed per precaution. She looked up when feeling his hand on her shoulder and assured him that she was fine before refocusing on the dog, "You do not know what you are, do you? You never did… There is some wolf inside you, too." She said calmly, surprising the dog as well as the two wolves.  
 _  
That explains how she could track us in the city_ , Nikki mused with a nod, watching the half-breed slightly flinch when the girl reached to stroke her muzzle even though her clear blue eyes stayed on her in awe.

Cheza adopted a compassionate look and wondered of the half-wolf, "You were alone your whole life, were you not?"

Kiba looked up when catching the familiar stink of soldiers fast approaching and he looked at both females, "Let's go." He urged, receiving a nod from his other half.

Nikki looked at the wolf-dog for a second longer before she lifted Cheza up by the hand and took off after his lead down the alley.

 **::::x x::::**

Being near humans wasn't foreign to her, given the life she'd had with her father on their island. But being hunted by a nobleman's soldiers didn't sit well with her. And she wasn't alone in that, which was something she was glad for.

Both wolves walked the lonely alley in general silence. They had found shelter in the nearby dump of the latest town –Aerial City, as she had overheard when they had entered the town not two hours ago— they had stumbled upon, and both black and brown wolf were to keep an eye on Cheza while the rest of them went to explore.

She was just glad she hadn't wound up with Tsume.

Eri cleared her throat as the silence was starting to get to her, "So, how'd you guess that Zoli was my father?" She wondered.

"You'd been spying on us since we set foot on the island, and my guess is that he wouldn't have just anyone do that job." Kiba shrugged, catching the measure of guilt that darkened her brown eyes, adding, "Thanks for your help, back there."

"Don't mention it… though I gotta admit that you guys were impressive, standing up to him. Noone has ever done that, not even those jerks who… well, y'know." Eri nodded with a small smile as she looked elsewhere.

Kiba nodded back and paused to sniff the air, glancing at her, "Come on." He received a nod before they ascended the nearby low rooftop at a hop.

Eri shortly followed, catching the whiff of soldier now that they were off the ground, stopping at his left when they at last reached a tall rooftop that looked onto the dry patch of the outskirts. She bristled slightly at seeing the same soldiers from the ruins as they had set up a base in the dry patch. "Why are they after her, just because some noble wants her?" She asked quietly as they watched the soldiers continue moving about the base.

"Supposedly she was created in a lab, at least from what Nikki told me." Kiba nodded again.

"You must love her… Nikki, I mean. You wouldn't have made her stay behind otherwise." Eri guessed as she watched his face soften when mentioning the other she-wolf.

Kiba smiled despite the heat in his ears, "She saved my life the day we met, so yeah." Granted that wasn't the _only_ reason, but it was enough for Eri to hear.

Eri rolled her eyes and lightly nudged him, "Come on, we should return to the others."

 **::::x x::::**

Toboe exhaled in relief when the coast was clear as he poked his head above their seat. "Why're those guys after Cheza, anyway?" He asked.

"Dunno but if I had to guess, it's because the nobles paying them want her back." Nikki answered, propping her feet up on the head-rest infront of her seat, rubbing her nose gingerly. "Not like that's gonna happen with us." She added.

"R-right!" Toboe nodded, briefly admiring her confidence, leaning over the seat, " _Onee-chan_ , have you always disliked humans?" He wondered curiously.

Nikki shrugged, "I can live with them so long as they don't stick a bullet in me…" At seeing the curious expression falter on his young face, she looked at him, "You were raised by a human, weren't you?" She asked.

Toboe nodded again, "Yeah. Granny, she took me in and gave me these," he gestured to the four bracelets on his wrist that softly jingled with his movement, and he smiled rather wistfully at them.

"Sounds like a sweet old lady… I gotta admit that you're lucky to have been raised by a human like that." Nikki smiled at him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Toboe laughed sheepishly, "Though sometimes I wish Tsume was my big brother too, y'know, not like I don't like you because you're his sister, I mean…" He fumbled and looked away with a weak smile.

Blue eyes softened, Nikki reached to tousle his hair. "If ya feel so strongly about it then he can be your big brother too… He's kind of a jerk though." She added with a pout.

Toboe laughed.

 **::::x x::::**

Eri rolled her eyes when the pup jumped slightly as the remaining two regrouped with them. "You two sure took your time." She mused.

"Missed you too…" Tsume huffed when catching his sister's agreeing nod.

Hige smiled cheekily, "At least we got through…"

A bullet suddenly struck the ground near the pup's footing, spooking the pack before six sets of eyes looked to the nearby cliffside to recognize the old hunter glaring down at them from the lens of his rifle.

" **Go**!" Tsume snapped as they scattered when the hunter fired at them, heading for the trees.

Nikki skidded to a halt when Cheza tripped behind them and she doubled back to help her up. "Geez…" She hoisted her arm over her shoulders before perking up as another shot went off and the bullet streaked for her.

Specks of blood flew when the bullet struck the left shoulder of the white wolf who had dove to protect her, and said male bared his teeth against the pain.

"Kiba!" The girl said in surprise.

"Hige!" Nikki barked as said tan wolf jogged to help Cheza and she in turn fisted a hand in Kiba's jacket, "Come on!" She held fast to his jacket as they sprinted to the safety of the trees.

When the hunter looked up again from reloading, the wolves were gone.

It took at least four rows of trees to put between them and the edges of the forest but the pack finally stopped running to regain their bearings.

"Why the hell is _he_ here?" Tsume wondered at large as he scowled at the way they had come.

"He really hates wolves if he followed us all the way from the city…" Hige agreed.

Kiba looked to everyone present from his seat on a large root and asked, "Is everyone all right?"

"Yeah." Eri nodded as she briefly looked to the boys before their leader.

"But _you're_ not." Nikki said as she gestured to his shoulder, stepping closer, "We need to get the bullet out."

"I can still run, Nik…" Kiba reminded patiently.

Nikki shifted her weight, "I don't care, you've gotten shot _before_ so don't expect me to lighten up, Kiba." She stated firmly, catching the stubborn scowl starting to furrow his brow, exhaling and rolling her sleeves up.

Tsume repressed the memory of the last time he had gotten scuffed in the city and let her tend to his injuries, "Holler if you need a sedative." He nodded to his sister, ushering the trio plus Cheza away to let her work.

Kiba scowled after him and exhaled in defeat as he let her shrug off his jacket so she could look at his shoulder, looking up at her when she drew one of her small blades from her boots. "You're not seriously…"

"It's the only way to get the slug out." Nikki said patiently, adding with an exasperated gaze, "Grin and bear it, hotshot." She rolled his sleeve up and pretended smelling his freshly-spilled blood didn't make her own boil in anger at that human.

Kiba barely swallowed the growl that rose in his throat as the blade dug into his arm and twisted slightly to pop the bullet out. His tensed muscles relaxed as he heard the discarded bullet hit the forest floor, looking to her when hearing cloth tearing to see she was fastening a white bandage around his shoulder. He watched her tie the bandage tight on his arm. "The more I think about it, the more I think getting shot in the same place is painful." He mused.

Nikki paused at hearing him complain, smirking gently. "Then don't get shot." She said, adding as she stowed the remaining bandage roll in her coat's inner pocket, "Your shoulder will be fixed on the next full moon..."

"Kind of _have to_ get shot, especially when the woman I love is threatened." Kiba huffed even as he took his jacket from her hand, pausing when he recognized what he just said and noticing she froze at the same time.

"You… you love me that much?" Nikki wondered softly as their stares met.

Feeling heat that had flooded his neck and ears slowly spill into his cheeks, Kiba cleared his throat and replied in the same tone, "I've never felt anything like how I feel towards you. You're an island, Nik, and I love that most about you." He gained measures of confidence the longer he spoke, and he smiled fondly when seeing her cheeks color.

Nikki smiled humbly and nodded. "I love you too… Even if you _are_ the most fearless idiot jackass I've ever met." She said, stepping closer to stroke his cheek.

"Could've gone without calling me a ' _jackass'_ …" Kiba puffed as he glanced away, making her giggle, and his eyes warmed at seeing her laugh.

" _'Sweet puppy_ ' sounds better, you're right." Nikki hummed, smiling serenely when he made a face.

* * *

 **an** : so here's a fun factoid, i once wrote that Eri and Kiba were siblings. just thought you guys should know that. anyway, later.


	11. Dead Trees Talking II

**key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 _ **Dead Trees Talking II**_

* * *

Three yelps of fear sounded when the gray wolf caught the overgrown beetle on reflex; the insect squirmed and the shrill buzzing it gave off only grew louder the more it squirmed. The oldest of the pack glanced at both the pup and his sister who had calmed when the bug was caught, refraining from slapping his forehead when said she-wolf poked her head from behind her mate's left arm.

"What's with you?" Said wolf wondered curiously as she sent a guarded but annoyed scowl at the ensnared beetle, looking at the younger she-wolf who had also ducked behind him as she was closer.

The gray wolf rolled his eyes and offered leisurely, "She's got a fear of bugs… Kinda traumatized since she was a cub."

"I am _not_ , I just hate them. There's a _difference_ … colossal asshat." She defended despite having flushed embarrassedly when the trio of males simultaneously looked at her, stiffening slightly and clinging to his sleeve when the beetle shrilly buzzed again.

Eri chimed as she came out from behind their alpha, "I just got spooked for a second, that's all. Besides, don't clown Nikki for it, not all of us are as _fearless_ as you, Tsume."

Tsume examined the bug and mused aloud, "I've never seen a bug so big before…" He ignored the dagger-filled scowl from the younger she-wolf as he then offered the beetle to the tan wolf who slightly jumped when he all-but shoved it in his face. "Here, you're usually the one griping about food, right? Chow down." He suggested even though he found the sight of the spooked wolf very amusing.

Hige took a step back and stammered slightly, "E-eh, why should I!?"

"Because you've got the strongest stomach," Toboe snickered.

"Go on," Tsume deadpanned.

"I-I ain't your taster, and why're you giving me orders! You're not the alpha here…" Hige barked before a lightbulb came on and he added, "Hey I know, let's give it to Cheza!" Taking the bug from the other wolf's hand, he zipped to present it to the girl who blinked once in surprise. "You're hungry too, right?" He asked hopefully.

Kiba then smacked the beetle from his hand and slew it in the same instant, giving his friend a look, "Cheza doesn't eat bugs." He said.

Hige pouted, "So what should we feed her, then?"

Cheza offered calmly, "This one doesn't eat anything."

"Nothing? Hang on…" Eri wondered confusedly.

Tsume raised a brow, "I don't think I've seen her eat before."

"This one drinks and basks." Cheza said with a serene smile.

It was Kiba's turn to raise a brow. " _'Basks'_ in what?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? Sunlight." Nikki put in patiently, receiving a nod from their charge, "Maybe too much testosterone does a number on you three's intelligence…" She mused thoughtfully.

Tsume snorted; Hige pouted sulkily at her; Kiba made a face. " **Very funny**." All three males said simultaneously.

Toboe tilted his head slightly, "What is ' _testosterone'_ anyway?"

"You'll understand when you're bigger," Eri giggled as she patted his shoulder.

 **::::x x::::**

Tsume glanced back at his companions, preferably the pup with the sprained ankle, and he exhaled shortly. This was why they couldn't have nice things…

"He can't even handle a simple forest! Like I said, ya can't take city kids to the woods…" Hige huffed.

Nikki whacked the back of his head reproachfully, "Like you'd last a day without food in your pockets…" She stepped away to gravitate towards the other she-wolf and their leader as they inspected the pup's ankle. "Can you walk, Toboe?" She asked gently even as the pudgy wolf stuck his tongue out behind her.

Toboe nodded, "I think so… Ow!" He winced when trying to right himself only to plop back down on the large root, before the four of them perked up as Cheza came forward and laid her hands on his foot.

"Does that feel good?" Hige asked as he came up to them mostly on curiosity.

Toboe giggled, "Y-yeah! Thanks Cheza." He smiled brightly at the girl.

Kiba allowed a smile before it faltered slightly when the tan wolf asked to be petted too and gave a jittery laugh when she did so; Nikki pinched the bridge of her nose as Eri slapped her forehead.

"Come on Tsume, let Cheza pet you too!" Toboe said lightly as he looked at the gray wolf.

Tsume glanced at them again as Hige gave another jittery laugh and he too pinched the bridge of his nose. He for one was grateful when they continued walking not ten minutes later.

"This forest isn't so bad once you get used to it. There's nothing to fight over and no humans around either… We've got it all to ourselves!" Hige commented.

Toboe smiled and chimed, "And if we get hungry there's plenty of bugs to eat!"

Nikki winced at the idea, "I think I'd sooner chew my leg off…"

"Fat chance!" Hige sniffed even as he too winced at the notion.

Tsume deadpanned, "then you'd better not start whining when we don't share with you."

"I'll say it again, who the hell died and made you alpha?" Hige demanded annoyedly as he stopped to scowl at the other wolf.

Kiba offered patiently, "Neither of us is the leader, Hige; our pack isn't the kind that has one."

Tsume scowled slightly at him, "Then what kind of pack are we?"

"Can we _not_ go at this again…?" Nikki groaned exasperatedly.

Eri pinched the bridge of her nose and chimed, "Must you?"

Toboe piped up, "Come on you guys, does that even matter? Hey I know, when we all make it out of here, what's the very first thing you wanna do?" He honestly prayed that the fur wouldn't start flying.

"What do you _think?_ " Hige deadpanned.

"Eat as much as I can." Said Tsume.

Kiba agreed, "Eat and sleep."

Nikki started, "Smack some sense into _all three_ of you morons…"

"… And _then_ pig out." Eri finished, sharing a thoughtful smile with the other she-wolf.

Blushing when his stomach grumbled, Toboe smiled weakly, "I guess you're right…"

"Moron, isn't it obvious?" Hige jibed in slight annoyance.

Eri was the one to backhand him this time, "Don't bully him, he's a pup."

Hige rubbed his head gingerly, "Well he's gotta toughen up somehow, right? Can't keep babying him…"

Tsume felt a vein twitch on his brow and snapped, "Both of you shut it! Making me get a headache…"

"Then stuff some _mushrooms_ in your ears!" Eri returned shortly.

"Oh I'll find _somewhere_ to stuff them…" Tsume vowed annoyedly as they glared at each other.

Nikki groaned again, "not even married and you're _arguin_ ' like it…"

"Cheza!" The five perked up at the sixth wolf's outburst and looked to see him catch the girl who had collapsed, gently lowering her to the ground. "Are you alright?" He asked concernedly.

She nodded and said tiredly, "This one is fine." Her answer didn't make any of the wolves feel at ease, especially the chosen duo.

"A bird!" Hige declared, earning everyone's attention as he stared off at where he had seen the elusive bird.

Tsume frowned and said dismissively, "It's the Forest of Death, you're probably seeing things…"

Hige shook his head, "No, I swear that was a bird. I heard wings flapping, which means… we've got meat!" He then took off into the wood.

"Hige come back!" Nikki called, grumbling when he didn't return, "Geez…"

Tsume pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled shortly, "Stay with the girls." He ordered the pup before he took off after the pudgy wolf.

 **::::x x::::**

' _Here isn't helping, here isn't helping!_ ' A ghostly voice hooted above, causing the pack to stop and look up at the nearby tree's higher branches to spot a brown owl perched on a low-sitting branch; the raptor studied the wolf pack with glazed-over blue eyes.

"An owl?" Kiba wondered in slight surprise.

Tsume bristled, "Damn thing is back."

' _It can't be helped if there is no light, if there is no water… it can't be helped if the Flower is withering!_ ' The owl hooted.

Nikki growled, "What'd you…" She trailed off at recognizing that the owl didn't carry any scent on its person and she gaped slightly, "Wait, you're not seriously…!"

"Wait a second, if that owl lives around here then he probably knows where we can find water!" Toboe piped up as he looked between her and their leader.

Kiba scowled up at the phantom, "Alright tell us, where can we find water?" He asked sharply, bristling when the owl cocked his head once and remained silent. "Do you live in this forest or not!" He snapped.

"Kiba, who are you talking to?" Cheza asked quietly from her place on his back.

"It's an owl, Cheza." Eri answered with an assuring smile to the tired girl.

Nikki clenched her fists on reflex and took a step closer to the tree, "Even if you are what you are, you've got to know if there's any water in this forest, right? _Please_ , she needs water!"

The owl remained silent before he flapped his wings and took off further into the darkened wood, making the wolves shortly give chase. ' _Go astray, go astray, good wolves! The answers always lie in confusion!_ ' He hooted, ' _You will never find what you're looking for; if the searcher were to find that which is searched for, it would then become an object!_ ' He finally stopped, perching on the branch of a tree that stood just yards shy of a cave's narrow mouth. ' _The answer lies within the darkness, within confined spaces! Only those who enter bravely will be rewarded!_ '

Toboe frowned in confusion, "What's that mean?"

"Crazy-feathers wants us to go in the cave…" Hige explained blandly, perking up when their leader strode ahead into the cave, stepping forward to stop him, "Hey, hang on! You're really going in there? What if there's no water; this whole idea sucks." He asked incredulously.

Kiba glared at him, "Unless you can tell me where else to find water, we don't have a _choice_ , Hige!" He ignored the slight step back his friend did at his sharpness before he resumed leading the way inside.

Tsume caught the worried darkening in her blue eyes and he mused more to himself, "Your boyfriend has finally cracked." He reluctantly followed said male with her at his side and Eri, Toboe and Hige taking the rear.

It was what she assumed an hour or so that they came to a fork in the road after having the feeling that they had been going in circles.

"Pretty sure we went left…" The younger she-wolf commented when their alpha turned to the right, looking at him when he almost tripped on a small ledge and swore annoyedly.

"Calm down, will you?" The gray wolf snapped.

The older she-wolf shook her head and offered to ease his mind, "We'll get out soon, okay? Don't get your tail in a knot." She walked ahead, hoping he would actually listen.

A desperate alpha was something that worried her, but she wasn't about to admit it. Not today.

"You're just tired, Kiba, that's all. Want me to carry her?" The pup offered before the fur could fly, coming up to his side.

Their leader turned his irritation on the pup, "Do you think you can carry her, Toboe? Answer me!" He glared at the uncertain look on the younger wolf's face and added sharply, "I don't need your help."

"Kiba, come on, don't snap at him! He's just trying to help…" Eri chided as she stepped up to the pup's side, stiffening slightly when said wolf turned his glare on her next.

Kiba retorted, "Like I said, I don't need help from any of you, Eri…"

"Would you shut it?" Tsume growled out as he stepped in to defend the she-wolf and pup, briefly catching the stiffness in his sister's back as she remained silent, "We can't trust your nose anymore, can we, if the scent of flowers has screwed it up!"

Kiba glowered at him, arguing, "My nose is _fine!_ "

"Put her down, Kiba." Tsume ordered flatly; it didn't bear repeating for her to know his patience was spent.

"You still don't trust her, Tsume?" Kiba demanded angrily.

" **Enough** , Kiba." Both males looked at Nikki as she turned to them with sharpened blue eyes. "It's not Tsume we can't trust right now, it's **you**. We'll get out of here and find water and see the next moonrise, yeah, but we can't go anywhere if **you're** acting like a jackass… Let us help you." At seeing the glare slowly falter from his handsome face she added softly, "Please."

Kiba recognized the pity in her eyes and quieted, glancing away before looking at her again when feeling her hand on his cheek.

Nikki smiled fondly when he calmed before her ears twitched as the pup stepped on something crunchy, and they simultaneously looked down at what he had stepped on.

"Are those human bones…?" Hige asked curiously as Eri and Toboe took a closer look.

Toboe frowned concernedly, "I think… these are from a bird." A yelp came from him when something sprang up from under the bones and took the form of a giant pillbug that had crawled out and proceeded to latch onto Hige's leg.

"Crap, get rid of it, Hige!" Eri barked as she and Toboe had hurriedly stepped away.

Tsume winced slightly when a sharp yelp of surprise came from his sister who had ducked behind him, watching the tan wolf hurriedly throw the bug off his leg so it hit a nearby boulder.

Shrill screeching rippled in the air as a large number of pillbugs surged out from hiding to encircle the wolves.

" **There's millions of them**!" Toboe and the girls cried in chorus.

Hearing Cheza yelp when one of the bugs snuck up to bite her back, Nikki yanked it off and stomped on it with both boots, "Kiba, get her out of here!" She barked as she twisted to kick away another pillbug that flew at the pup nearby who was stomping on a bug of his own.

"Kiba!" Tsume called as he had located the high ledge first, catching said wolf's attention before he tossed the girl up to his waiting arms.

Kiba ducked in time as she smacked another bug away, straightening as their stares met for a second that felt like hours, before he broke away to slap a stray pillbug from flying at her when she wasn't looking.

Nikki smiled wryly at him and whistled sharply to call the four to them, looking up as Tsume dropped to land at her right, as they faced the remainder of the swarm.

Tsume smirked at the impending brawl, "Are wolves gonna lose to a bunch of bugs?"

"At least we both like the scent of flowers." Toboe said lightly.

Hige laughed slightly, "Nicely said, runt."

"I didn't think I'd hate bugs so much, until today." Eri huffed.

"This is _so_ therapeutic," Nikki smiled excitedly.

Kiba shared in her enthusiasm, "Here they come."

 **::::x x::::**

Looking at the ensnared pillbugs that were being gnawed on by the scattered plants, Nikki tilted her head. "I've only heard of these plants, thought they died out years ago…" She mused.

"This one heard them, they said they were hungry." Cheza explained with a weak smile.

Tsume shared in his sister's curiosity, "So they're bug-eating plants…"

"I guess we were saved by Cheza's friends, who knew?" Hige smiled elatedly.

Toboe called back to them from further along the tunnel, "Guys, there's light up ahead; it's a way out!" He took off with Eri shortly at his heels and Hige at the tail.

Tsume surprised both white and black wolves when he lifted the girl into his arms, giving a nod to the lattermost. "Don't take too long." He said, turning to follow the younger wolves out.

Nikki smiled wryly and shook her head as her significant other wiped some blood from his cheek and exhaled. "I think he's starting to like you. He's never done that before." She mused as she looked at him.

"Or he approves… Kinda hard to tell with him." Kiba nodded, earning a soft chuckle, and their eyes met, "Sorry, about earlier." He added quietly as he stepped towards her.

"The mighty alpha shows humility… I think the world really _is_ gonna end." Nikki huffed in surprise, raising a brow when he came closer.

Kiba rolled his eyes and slightly ducked his head to kiss her, smiling when she responded by pulling at his jacket to hold on, raising a hand to curl his fingers in her hair.

Nikki pretended his apologetic kiss didn't make her knees weaken and drew away with a soft sigh, smiling when his lips formed in that crooked way as if she had stumped him again. "You really are cute when you admit I'm right." She mused, stepping away to lead him after their friends.

" _That_ doesn't happen very often…" Kiba hummed as he followed, smiling innocently when she turned on him.

* * *

 **an** : also yeah call it nepotism bc i love my otp so much okay. anyway, til next update! :)


	12. No Angels I

**key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 _ **No Angels I**_

* * *

At hearing the wolf-whistles from a few of the men they passed, she swallowed a growl and bristled. "You'd think they had never seen the opposite sex walking around…" Eri grumbled.

Nikki's ears twitched and she huffed, "I've dealt with worse dogs than them… Don't let it get to you."

She found with mild irritation that the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach had yet to go away. Why did she feel so uneasy, anyway? It wasn't because of the humans, but maybe it was something else… She wasn't sure what.

Something was coming and she _didn't_ want to find out what it was.

"…That's not the only reason you're excited, is it, runt?" Hige's voice drew her from her thoughts, causing her to halt and look back at the boys to see the pup held in a headlock by said pudgy wolf. He smiled cheekily as he added, "Especially because tonight's…"

Eri blinked and looked to their alpha, "Another full moon?"

"Already?" Nikki wondered.

Kiba nodded and she could see he too was excited if the twinkle in his eyes was anything to go by, "You look surprised."

Nikki's cheeks warmed and she shrugged, "It's just… it doesn't _feel_ like it's been four months, since we left Freeze City." Granted it only felt like that because of Cheza.

"I know we're excited because we get our strength from the full moon, but what about Cheza?" Toboe piped up from managing to squirm free of Hige's grip, looking at said girl who had paused and looked at them, "She looks like she's glowing, too!" He added.

Kiba's hand reflexively found his mate's, "I once heard that at one time of the year on the night of a full moon the flowers will hear the moon's call and return to Paradise." He informed them.

Tsume looked at him with both brows raised, "You're not saying…"

" _Seriously?_ " Eri wondered even as her heart started to race at the thought.

Toboe looked at the older wolves, "Is that what's gonna happen?"

"She's going to bloom?" Hige almost snorted in something akin to disbelief.

Cheza smiled innocently at the wolves, "This one is excited, too!"

 **::::x x::::**

The unease she had experienced had fled when the girl had started dancing, and it was virtually nothing more than a distant memory when a path of lunar flowers that led into the far horizon appeared before their very eyes.

She felt hope, for the first time in years, hope that Paradise was at the end of the path, that her pack waited for them there…

A familiar shrill buzzing cut into the night air like a hot knife, tearing her attention away from following the girl down the path, surprising the others as they too had stopped at hearing that noise. The dot that had scarred the blue face of the moon now descended before the pack, taking the form of a small airship, the buzzing noise had faded by the time it touched down on the dry ground.

Bristling angrily even as tears stung at the bottom of her eyes, the she-wolf recognized the human who stood there when the ship door opened, recognizing him by his stench alone.

This was the bastard who had stolen Cheza back in Freeze City.

There was a smug look on his handsome face that she immediately loathed. "The wolves again… It's been a long time." He drawled.

Tsume bristled slightly in surprise, "That stench… He's a noble?"

"What're you doing here?" Kiba demanded coldly.

The noble snidely regarded the bristling wolves with his good eye, "Was your little dream pleasant, I wonder; the one where you were going to Paradise?" He descended towards them down the small ramp of the ship, looking to the trembling girl that stood behind the two she-wolves. "The time hasn't come for that yet… Return to me, Cheza."

"Your pedigree doesn't entitle you to everything!" Nikki snarled as she and Eri shielded the girl, stiffening slightly when her significant other flew at the noble only to bounce back when he collided with an invisible force field that protected him.

"It's useless." The noble's smirk widened a degree as the force field countered the snarling wolf's lunge, sending a wide red beam screaming at his footing and narrowly missing when its target dodged in time, watching another beam fly for the footing of the pup.

"Toboe!" Hige exclaimed as he raced to the pup's side before he too was sent flying when another beam struck.

Eri winced when the ground trembled from the impact and cried, "Hige!"

The stink of spilled blood filled the air as Cheza's pained scream caused the black, white and two gray wolves to sprint for the noble. The oncoming laser broke in three directions when they split up, one hitting Tsume first before the second hit Kiba, as the third chased both Nikki and Eri as they sprinted for the ship.

White noise filled Eri's ears when the laser struck the ground inches infront of her, sending her flying.

Nikki had bounced back in time and landed expertly, regarding the felled she-wolf nearby, snarling angrily at the noble. She perked up when seeing his white form straighten from where he had hit the ground, meeting his gaze that swept the ugly scene and nodded slightly before they both raced for the noble at top speed.

Twin laser beams streaked at the oncoming wolves and formed into one larger beam as the noble smirked ruefully at their reckless charge, as the beam struck the ground less than a yard away from the couple and sent them both flying yards away.

The noble smirked ruefully before something sharp streaked past his right cheek and grazed it, and he looked at the ship when a soft ' _thunk_ ' alerted him to the small knife that had been vainly thrown at him.

A snarl sounded as the mismatched couple flew at the noble again before the force field repelled both wolves and knocked them back.

Warm blood dripped from some place above his left eye as the white wolf staggered to his feet, looking at the just-as-beaten-and-dirty black wolf who had landed not two yards away from him. He roughly shoved away the fear of losing her as he hobbled to her side, looking at her with surprise and relief when she stiffly cracked open her silver eyes, and he growled slightly when she started to get up, ' _Don't move so much_ …' He ordered.

' _No, I'm fine, I just_ …' The black wolf protested, her gaze sharpening when seeing the girl walk towards the airship. ' _Cheza!_ ' She straightened as best she could and limped to stop her with the white wolf not far behind, both wolves hobbling to block her from going further.

Cheza's gaze softened at their tenacity and she kneeled to hug both wolves around the neck, feeling the she-wolf bury her muzzle into hers.

' _Don't go_ …' Kiba pleaded quietly.

Nikki felt hot tears slowly run down her dirtied face, ' _We're not afraid to die, Cheza… Please stay_.'

"This one knows, that is why it is all right… This one will protect the both of you." Cheza promised quietly as she held on a bit tighter to both wolves for a second longer.

A mutual feeling of loss and hopelessness fell on the two wolves as Cheza drew away to say her goodbye to their pack-mates, and her back seemed smaller when she reluctantly boarded the airship.

* * *

 **an** : hey guys, hope you had a good weekend. mine was busy so this is my way of apologizing for not updating over the weekend pff. oh and a sincere thank you to _**Midnight**_ for the latest review, thanks hon! :) more to come, guys, so stay tuned.


	13. Making Me Blue

**key** : ' _wolf speech_ ' / "human speech"

* * *

 _ **Making Me Blue**_

* * *

"Looks broken."

"No, it's just out of place." She drew away and pondered for a moment, "I remember Mum telling me that all you have to do is pull to get the bone back in place…"

He shuffled away, "You're not exactly in good shape at the moment either, so I'm not lettin' you near my arm…"

"Tsume," she rubbed her neck gingerly and looked up at him through one brown eye, "You won't run good if you don't let her set it." She reasoned.

Outnumbered by both females, the older wolf exhaled shortly and sat back down, "Don't look so smug." He warned them both, granted he was scowling at the younger of the two.

Kiba straightened from seeing that the other two younger males were resting well –one he was more confident in than the latter, as the former was snoring like a bear—and looked at the remaining trio only to wince slightly when hearing the noticeable crack of bone and hissed curse that shortly followed come from the oldest of their pack. He sat down by the younger she-wolf who was still rubbing her neck. "Wondering if I should worry about her forcefulness…" He muttered as his gaze rested on the ' _nurse'_.

Eri chuckled wryly, "I would, but then again I'm not the alpha here." She patted his shoulder. "Maybe ya should see if Kiba needs any bones reset too, Nikki…" She wondered, smiling when said wolf stiffened at her side.

"Cut the scare tactics for once, brat," Tsume put in, rubbing his tender arm, catching the defeated pout on her face. He nodded to his sister who was smirking bemusedly at the thought, "Thanks for that."

"You should've wired his jaw shut in the process," Eri lamented before giving a squeak when she was helped up from the felled piece of low-bearing steel to be dragged away by the gray wolf, "Tsume I'm sorry…!"

"Get some sleep instead of running your mouth, wouldja?" Tsume advised dryly, releasing her yellow coat hood, deciding to give his sister time to rest.

Nikki raised a brow in confusion before looking at the amused expression on her mate's face, "What just happened?" She wondered.

"I'm trying to figure it out myself, but… looks like love." Kiba shrugged as he met her gaze, sitting down on the steel piece where Eri had sat. "Strange as it is." He added thoughtfully.

"I've seen stranger," Nikki mused with a shake of her head, sitting with him, regarding the dirt and bits of dried blood on his paler skin and asking quietly, "You okay?"

A rather vain question, given what they had just survived, but someone had to worry about him right?

Kiba quieted and glanced up at the high windows before them. "The moon was red… I've only seen a red moon once before." He noted.

Nikki frowned softly and reminded, "I told you once that you don't have to carry the world on your shoulders… At least not while I'm standing with you." Blue met green.

Kiba looked away for a moment, seeing something she couldn't, and he exhaled, "I know that now…" He then told her what had happened when he was small, how his pack had died and left him alone in the world… When he finished he was briefly surprised she rested her head on his shoulder and had bunched a hand in his shirt, wondering for a moment if she had fallen asleep on him.

"I had Tsume to face the world with, when we lost our pack, but I… I can't imagine going it alone for so long." Nikki whispered as the stillness of the warehouse settled around them, feeling his arm that had reflexively folded on her shoulders give a squeeze, and she nuzzled his neck. "The more I think about it, the more I believe we were meant to meet back in Freeze City." She mused softly.

Kiba smiled thoughtfully at that, "nothing surprises me at this point, except for what happened that day." He held her closer as he thought of the night's events, raising a brow when she slightly drew away to lock stares before she leaned in to kiss him. He groaned as quietly as possible given their sleeping pack nearby, releasing her shoulders in favor of curling his fingers in her hair, reciprocating possessively and finding the eagerness in her kisses to be another surprise.

Nikki drew away with a soft squeak of surprise when she slumped into his lap, blinking once before her cheeks colored as he also blinked at the break, looking at the green on his jacket collar and finding interest in it even as he was valiantly trying to not laugh. "S-shut up…" She grumbled.

Kiba tilted her chin up so their stares met, noting the blush darkening her already-tanned skin, running his fingers through her hair. "You really are cute when you try." He said quietly, smiling even though she flushed and stuck out her bottom lip as was her way, leaning in to kiss her again.

 **::::x x::::**

Frustrated with the overall lack of movement around him, Hige looked at his pack. "Look, I'm just as shocked as you guys, but that's not gonna help us figure out what the hell to do now! Are we just gonna mope around for the rest of our lives? Someone say something, damn it! Kiba, neither you or Nikki have said a word since all this happened…"

Eri clipped the word, " _Don't_."

"Drop it, Porky." Tsume sharply cut in.

Toboe quickly chimed, "Yeah, Kiba and Nikki were hurt the most, remember?"

Giving a short exhale, the black wolf straightened to start pacing and slightly surprised the five. "Since shit _already_ hit the fan, Hige has a point. We need to get her back… That creep just waltzed in and took her away like before, and nearly got us in the process." Her voice quieted at the last six words and she bristled, stopping to look at her pack and finishing with a determined scowl on her brow, "I dunno about you lot, but I got first dibs on tearing his throat out."

Briefly surprised such determination had come from his mate, Kiba considered amending before they all heard shouting coming from outside of the warehouse they had been holed up in, his ears twitching when hearing the noise approaching.

A blur of black dashed into the open doorway and skidded to a halt right then with dust flying from the run, before it cleared to reveal the familiar wolf-dog, surprising the pack. The black dog's form changed to that of a girl near identical to the older she-wolf save her hair was wilder and her eyes were a clear blue.

"Wow, what a babe!" Hige said with a goofy grin in place.

Nikki deadpanned before her ears perked as the half-breed's three pursuers came into the warehouse.

Eri bristled and glanced at Tsume as he slightly shuffled to protect her.

"She's got friends." The thug wearing a beanie huffed.

Hige nearly flew in to defend the new wolf, prompting a look from the other two women, "And what's it to ya?" He asked bravely.

"Hand over the girl." The second thug in a suit ordered.

"Why should we?" Hige demanded as the second thug had seemed to take note of their females.

White-suit nodded to both black-suit and beanie-boy to advance on the wolves, remarking coolly, "You lot aren't from around here, I can see… That bitch is our merchandise, but now that I'm lookin' at you, I think we struck gold. Right boys?" He eyed the black wolf from toe to head before doing the same to the light-gray wolf as his friends shared a chuckle.

"Was that meant as a compliment?" Eri wondered sweetly as she and Nikki traded glances and came to the same conclusion.

Nikki smiled serenely as she approached white-suit, "I believe so! Gentlemen, as much as we _sorely_ hate to disappoint you, you've caught us in a _**bad. mood** …!_" She slammed her left boot right up his groin, causing him to swear colorfully and drop to his knees.

"Bitch!" The black-suit snarled as he and the beanie-wearing thug flew at the she-wolf.

Eri sharply thrust her fist out and decked black-suit right in the cheek " _Oops!_ "

"Looks like you dumbasses struck out!" A streak of gray head-butted beanie-boy who had gotten closer to Eri, knocking him away.

Kiba sprang on white-suit when he regained his bearings and rushed Nikki, pinning him as Hige had pinned beanie-boy, teeth bared when white-suit focused on what he was. He snapped his teeth as the third thug screamed something about the ' _Curse of the House of Darcia'_ , causing his prey to flinch, before he led the way out of the warehouse at a sprint and heard the six wolves shortly follow.

 **::::x x::::**

Tsume laughed, "did you see the looks on their faces?"

"That was so cool, you guys!" Toboe said as he looked at the two she-wolves.

"That's _one_ way to snap out of it." Kiba mused as he looked to his lover from his seat on a slab of concrete, smiling fondly when her cheeks colored.

Nikki smiled shyly and sat with him on the slab, "You okay?" She wondered, receiving a nod.

"Are _you_ all right?" Hige wondered of the third she-wolf.

Said female nodded with a small smile, "Yeah, thanks for the help."

"We didn't do it for you, y'know… They just caught us in a bad mood, that's all." Tsume huffed as he scowled at her.

Hige made a face. "She was just thanking us; sheesh, don't be so hard on her, it's not like we meet new girls every time, y'know… Oh yeah, I'm Hige!" He turned to her with a bright smile.

"My name's Blue." She smiled back before looking at the four, "Guess it's been a while, huh?"

"Hold it, you know each other?" Eri wondered as she looked at Tsume.

Kiba shrugged as he glanced at the new she-wolf, "Something like that."

"You did some really crappy things to us with that human." Tsume agreed bitingly.

Nikki's brow twitched and she proceeded to straighten and backhand both gray and white wolves, stepping down to greet the she-wolf properly. "Don't mind them, they're just… well, acting like pups. The name's Nikki; that brainless jerk is Kiba and the major asshat is my older brother, Tsume. Sorry we didn't really meet the last time." She said with a warm smile that surprised the tan wolf.

" **Since when are you so nice**?" Hige, Kiba and Tsume demanded in chorus.

" **Shut it**!" Nikki snapped annoyedly as she glared at all three of them.

Eri snorted amusedly and giggled at the otherwise-sore expressions on the trio's faces.

Blue caught the pup's confused look and she couldn't help but laugh quietly. "Well anyway, thanks for helping." She said.

"Um, that old guy you were with… where is he?" Toboe piped up as he looked to the wolf-dog.

"Oh yeah, him… Well, something happened and we split up." Blue explained albeit lamely, glancing away.

Kiba noted, "He was still tracking us in the last town we were in."

Blue nodded and looked elsewhere again, "I know he was… Pops would track down a wolf to the ends of the earth."

Eri slightly tilted her head, asking, " _You're_ part wolf, though, right?"

"Hey, isn't that girl with you guys? The one you were traveling with… She had a, well, a strange scent." Blue asked hopefully as she changed topic.

Toboe blinked once in surprise, " _'A girl'_ … You mean Cheza?"

Hige popped in before the melancholy could surmount again, "Oh that, well let's just not talk about it! Why don't we look for some food; we did just bump into each other, y'know, and it's kinda dangerous out there for a girl on her own in this town…" He smiled cheesily at the half-wolf.

"Fat chance, Porky!" Tsume scoffed, seeing said wolf flinch.

"And _why not?_ " Hige hissed between gritted teeth.

Tsume folded his arms at his chest, "Like I'd run with her; she did everything she could to hunt us down."

"You weren't the one she helped chase down," Toboe agreed when the tan wolf started to protest.

Blue shook her head and smirked ruefully, "It's fine, I wouldn't want to hang with a bunch of pups anyway. See you around," she looked to both she-wolves before leaving the pack with her hands in her overcoat pockets.

"H-hey, they're just bein' a little cold! Wait up!" Hige exclaimed before he scampered off after her.

Eri shook her head and looked at the pup who called after him, "He'll come back, Toboe, don't worry."

Kiba nodded slightly when the pup looked at them, "When we were back in that last town, she found out she was half-wolf. Cheza told her."

" _'Half-wolf'?_ " Toboe echoed.

Nikki added with a small smile, "that part of her must have reacted when she met Cheza." She looked to her brother and asked, "what's with you? You can't honestly still be pissed about what happened in the dome…"

"I'm surprised _you're_ not. You were pretty pissed when her pet shot Kiba last time." Tsume remarked with a slight nod at said wolf.

"He's not here with her, Tsume. Blue seemed sincere about meeting Cheza, at least before you and your big mouth shot that out of the sky." Eri defended as she hopped up to his place at the top of the mound, sitting with him.

Tsume closed his mouth and scowled at her, looking elsewhere with a puff. "I think you're hanging with my sister too much, considering that stunt you two just pulled." He mused.

Kiba smirked as the younger wolf smiled smugly, "it's almost scary… _almost_." He agreed.

Nikki returned to where he sat near the top of the mound and plopped down, "It's not easy being the only girls in the pack. Do you have any idea how _exhausting_ it's been keeping you two from tearing into each other to prove who's alpha?" She made a face.

"Now you understand the hell **I** went through keeping you alive in the city…" Tsume returned dryly, ducking when she threw a tattered sneaker at his head.

 **::::x x::::**

A breeze blew across the outlook.

Kiba glanced at his other half to recognize the hint of worry that darkened her blue eyes when she thought he wasn't looking, and his right elbow gently nudged her left. "We'll get her back." He quietly assured when she glanced up at him.

"I know we will…" Nikki exhaled softly as she looked ahead, slightly hunching her shoulders. "I just, I can't shake this anxiety that I felt, that night he took her." She confessed, expecting him to assure her that they were going to be fine, that she had nothing to worry about…

But that wasn't the case. "That makes two of us." Kiba acknowledged the slight surprise in her eyes and another breeze blew past them. "I lost enough before we met, but I don't plan to lose you too." He said as the horrible thought of her death scared him to his core.

And he was not one for fear.

"Kiba…" She began before quieting and puffing a bit of air, leaning on him and closing her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, remember?" She murmured.

His green eyes softened as he looked at her, "You're still too cocky." He mused with a quiet chuckle, catching her slightly exasperated smile when she drew back.

"… ' _Paradise'_ huh?" Blue wondered thoughtfully behind them, drawing the couple back to reality.

Hige answered matter-of-factly, "We're all trying to make our way to Paradise… It's something every wolf has to try and do. You're going with us to find it, aren't you, Blue?" He looked at her.

Blue shrugged, "sounds tempting, but I can't go."

"Then I'm not going either." Hige stated.

Nikki rolled her eyes when Kiba glanced at her, offering as they had both turned to the pack, "It'd be safer if you stuck around the humans, Blue… If that's what you're worried about."

Kiba agreed despite the distraught look on the tan wolf's face, "She's right, it's not too late to turn back."

"What the hell're you _saying_ , guys…?" Hige asked incredulously.

Blue shook her head, "But I have no intention of going back, not to the way I was… Not now. I just need to find out what I really am."

Eri stepped off the outlook's ledge, "Then come with us. We can go to Paradise together… Come on, Blue." She said, smiling excitedly at having another girl present.

Nikki stuck her hands in her coat pockets and agreed, "Eri's right… All you can do from here is keep going."

"That's right, all you can do is move forward, right? _Right?_ " Hige jumped up as if he had suddenly gotten an epiphany.

It was Kiba's turn to roll his eyes.

Tsume snorted quietly, "Oh yeah, I can see right through ya, Porky."

"If only Cheza was here… Ow!" Toboe muttered before he was lightly whacked by the pudgy wolf.

Hige made a face, "I told you not to say that… All right, on to Paradise…!" He said excitedly and pointed south.

"We're headed **west** , genius!" Nikki cut in patiently, nodding in the intended direction when all eyes fell on her.

Eri raised a brow, "but Paradise isn't over there."

"Darcia's keep **is**." Kiba stated.

Tsume caught on first and he frowned, pointing out, "she left us on her own, remember, Kiba? That freak will be there too… we might actually get killed this time."

"Cheza left to protect us, and she's waiting there. Don't worry about him, either… I already called dibs." Nikki huffed, momentarily wondering if he could read her mind; not that she doubted it, given that he _was_ her brother.

Recognizing the cocky edge in her tone, Tsume smirked wryly. "Like I said, you're insane if you think I'm letting you go it alone, Nik."

* * *

 **an** : not much to put, just that i'm posting an update for this on **tumblr ** too if anyone wants to know. elsewise, later guys! C:


End file.
